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search results for “beautiful”
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List songs by Song title | Performer | Year

You searched for ‘beautiful’, which matched 509 songs.
click - person recommending, year, performer, songtitle - to see more recommendations.
"I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From"  performed by The Kings of Convenience  2001
Recommended by Alletron [profile]

The Kings of Convenience have often been described as Norway's answer to Nick Drake. They blend lyrics of nature and love with sensational flowing acoustic guitars. Erlend Oye and Erik Glambek Boe have the most hauntingly beautiful voices you may ever hear, and expertly incorporate harmonies that drift perfectly through the notes of their guitars. This is my absolute number one favorite song of all times. Listen closely on the bridge for this incredible arpeggio that just catapults the song into ethereal territory.

from "Quiet Is the New Loud" (Astralwerks)


(Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria  performed by Townes Van Zandt  1970
Recommended by andrew76 [profile]

This is (for me) one of the greatest songs of love ever written. The song describes the appearance of a goddess among women and is pure (if at times naive) poetry. The arrangement is simple lead and rhythm guitars and bass with an organ giving a more filled out feeling from the second verse and violin in the fourth. The tone is melancholy but happy, as if the singer is basking in the light of this most beautiful woman. It must have been written for someone, someone lucky to be thought so beautiful. But there is sadness in that the singer may be singing of his unrequited love. Some of the alliteration is fantastic too.

from Townes Van Zandt (Pppy Records CDGR 212), available on CD (Pppy Records)



  booblikon: there is a great story in the documentary film "Be Here To Love Me", as told by Guy Clark: this song apparently came to Van Zandt in a particularly peak morning of inspiration, when Clark describes finding Townes uncharacteristically fit and alert. after making his bed to military specification, he played Clark a new song (this one), which he intended to perform at an appearance that same evening. i may have rendered parts of this story incorrectly, so i definitely recommend the movie if you are a fan; even if not, as it is sad but quite revelatory.
3 libras  performed by a perfect circle
Recommended by eggplantia5 [profile]

a beautiful, haunting, disturbing song. maynard's voice just does something that twists up my heart every time i hear the song. this is one of the songs i can put on repeat and just completely let swallow me whole. it's perfect for a dark mood.




505  performed by Arctic Monkeys  2007
Recommended by Squall [profile]

Very mellow, beautifully played song. The lyrics suggest a lost love, and a longing for the past that anyone can connect to.

from Favourite Worst Nightmare, available on CD (Domino)


A Family. A Tree  performed by We Are The Willows
Recommended by seike17 [profile]

Soft folk rock song. Beautiful, heartwarming, she has such a gentle voice.




a love from outer space  performed by tahiti 80  2000
Recommended by penelope_66 [profile]

just dreamy! the title fully corresponds to the mood of this track. i'm just a sucker for the combination of acoustic guitar and electronic instruments, and tahiti 80 masters that beautifully with this song. um, the perfect make-out song? what else can i say?


available on CD - tahiti 80 - e.p.




  n-jeff: Is this the AR Kane song? 'She loves me, she loves me she loves me, hmm, a love from outer space, its true'. My girlfriends favourite track from the I LP.
  penelope_66: Yes! Though I didn't know it was a cover...I'll have to find the original and hear it!
Abaddon  performed by GPKISM  2009
Recommended by shakebear [profile]

Abaddon is just beautiful; the lyrics are pure poetry, GPK's voice is gorgeous and soothing, and all of the instruments fit together perfectly.

from Atheos (Darkest Labyrinth)


Acoustic Medley  performed by Bob Marley
Recommended by zberger [profile]

Great song, long. Its bob and his guitar just jamming about how beautiful life is.




Ad Gloriam  performed by Le Orme  1969
Recommended by antarctica [profile]

Ad Gloriam is a beautiful, light, joyous psychedelic pop song. It's built on looping melodic layers of sound by the standard guitar/bass/drum combo as well as piano and background vocals. I challenge anyone not to smile when they hear this track.

from Ad Gloriam



ai no toubousha  performed by Yoko NAGISA  2003
Recommended by chipple [profile]

Beautifully produced by Garry ASHIYA (part of the unit hige no miboujin (aka La veuve moustachue) with You-ichi KISHINO), this song from the single of the same name sounds a lot like Garry's works with hige no miboujin, creating a sort of classy, elegant 70's atmosphere. Yoko's vocals are fantastic and suit the song perfectly!

from ai no toubousha, available on CD



Aikea-Guinea  performed by Cocteau Twins  1985
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A perfect song. I love every note. The mood is desolate, yet warm and reassuring as well. The bassline and guitar playing recall some of the great early-period New Order tracks. The track fades in beautifully with bass, drums, and guitar. The drums and bass are steady, while the effects-laden guitar shimmers over the top. Liz Fraser's vocal is at first understated, until the chorus begins. Her voice soars as a simple piano sound joins the mix. The chords are simple, almost inevitable, but the instrumentation and execution are quite stunning.

Happily, you can hear this song and see the original video at the Cocteau Twins official site: http://www.cocteautwins.com/html/media/video.html.

from the single Aikea-Guinea (4AD BAD501)
available on CD - Aikea-Guinea (4AD)



  audioadventures: Another one of my favourites of all time. Gives me goosebumps.
  leonthedog: Yes, I remember playing this EP over and over back when it was only on vinyl... Although "Kookaburra" is, in my opinion, even more heavenly! Like angels comforting you...
Albatross  performed by Slowdive  1991
Recommended by Genza [profile]

Hell, I could have picked almost anything from the back catalogue of this band. Albatross is the stand-out track of an outstanding 4 track EP (entitled Holding our Breath) from early ’90s shoegazers Slowdive. Bemoaned, decried and hated by Britain’s Britpop-loving press, Slowdive’s beautiful multi-layered sound has latterly found a kindred spirit in much lauded post-rockers Sigur Ros. So maybe they were right after all…

Back to Reading – and there is no stronger example of the Thames Valley sound than Albatross. Layer upon layer of minor chords – almost symphonic in their beauty – Albatross swells to a powerful crescendo of highly processed guitars. Non-believers should check out double A-sides Catch the Breeze and Shine. The fourth track on the rather grand EP is a cover of Syd Barrett's (former lead singer of Pink Floyd) Golden Hair. Utterly remarkable.

from Holding our Breath EP (Creation CRE 112)



Alice  performed by Tom Waits  2002
Recommended by Davidthesaint [profile]

The album is one of my favourite-albums of all times. And the song itself is one of the most beautiful songs I know... the lyrics, the melody, the arrangement...


available on CD - Alice (Anti)


All I Need  performed by Air  1998
Recommended by eftimihn [profile]

A beautiful track off Air's already classic debut album "Moon Safari". Actually the instrumental backing of this song is based on a track they released in 1996 ("Les professionels", later compiled on the "Premiers Symptomes" album). This one boasts such an enveloping warm analogue sound with all the vintage synths Air used (Moogs, Fender Rhodes etc.). On top of that there's the dream-like, sensual vocals by Beth Hirsch that gives it such a floating, laid-back tone. Sounds like the impression of a late summer sunset transcribed into sound. Wonderful.

from Moon Safari, available on CD



all the time in sunny beach  performed by Mad Capsule Markets  2002
Recommended by n-jeff [profile]

It doesn't have the electronic elements of some of their songs apart from a DnB drum loop, but it is the only release they have on vinyl. (beautiful 7")
A breathless rush of too fast, too loud guitars, beach boy singing, slaughter and the dogs style riffs and terrible kiddie rock rapping.
Its noisy and fast, but desperatly tuneful.
The B-side "Good Good Girl" is also too fabulous. Catch them live if you can. Too young, too loud, too good. J-Rock!

from Osc Dis, available on CD




  ihatethebych: actually i think that song you have there is sunny beach rd.
  n-jeff: actually, rd, I think you'll find that song I have there is "all the time in sunny beach". on my cd. and on my lovely snow white 7. now why don't you quit carping and recommend something yourself?
  pouncyisdead: All the Time in Sunny Beach (noise therapy remix) is one of my personal faves. Great use of traditional Taiko drum as the underpinning for a jangly DnB remix. from the Pulse EP 2001
Always  performed by Pet Shop Boys  2003
Recommended by Mike [profile]

For me the best song produced by the Pet Shop Boys for a few years, this mid-tempo number fuses a philosophical yet uplifting lyric with a typically intense, harmonically interesting PSB synth backing. The melody is beautiful and the song and arrangement are considerably more musically daring than much of the contents of their rather disappointing album "Release", which, in its standard single disc form, inexplicably omits this song.

"Always" is available on US limited edition two disc sets of "Release" and on disc one of the "Home and Dry" CD singles.


available on CD - Home and Dry CD1


Always On Your Side  performed by Sheryl Crow
Recommended by behindblueeyes102 [profile]

The music is so beautiful, as well as the lyrics. This song is true and very meaningful to me.




Amanda  performed by Waylon Jennings
Recommended by inbloom44 [profile]

I love how human this song is. He admits his faults and thats a beautiful thing.




Amelia  performed by Joni Mitchell  1976
Recommended by pleasepleaseme [profile]

Joni Joni Joni. Great poetess of the north! A wonderful merging of folk & jazz here. Some of the most beautiful poetry by this already prolific artist. Also a standout on this record is the bass playing of Mr. Jaco Pastorius. From the poet who said "we are stardust,we are golden,we are billion year old carbon,and we've come to find our way back to the garden. Joni Mitchell "Woodstock"

from Hejira, available on CD



  joe o: i was going to recommend this one. It really is beautiful.
America  performed by Simon & Garfunkel  1968
Recommended by LawrenceM [profile]

In my opinion, the best S&G song, from their '68 masterpiece "Bookends". Lyrically beautiful, with a haunting melody and beautiful vocals care of Artie and Paul. A beautiful, soothing song for a turbulant time.

from Bookends, available on CD




  phil: DEFINITELY the best Simon and Garfunkel song - Paul at last raises himself to some excellent lyrics , and the singing is just sensational - when they sing 'so I looked at the scenery/ she read her magazines/ and the moon rose over an open field' tears spring to my eyes.

Seriously, people diss Art Garfunkel, but the man is truly a singing genius. It's all very well to go on about the importance of writing blah blah blah second most talented member of Simon and Garfunkel blah blah blah, but when you can sing as well as Art, what does it matter? He adds so much to their songs just with the beauty of his voice. Paul should never have got rid of him.

  G400 Custom: Nice to see someone standing up for Art Garfunkel's often wonderful singing. His 1978 album 'Watermark' is largely composed of Jimmy Webb songs and is well worth a listen, particularly 'Mr Shuck'n'Jive' and 'Shine It On Me'.
Amori Finiti  performed by Giancarlo Gazzani  1966
Recommended by delicado [profile]

To me, this track is a perfect distillation of all that is wonderful about bossa nova and the various hybrids which it inspired. Bossa nova was taken up all over the world after its rise in the late 50s and early 60s, but Italian musicians seem to have done an especially good job of absorbing its charms.

A simple instrumental, this opens with a plucked guitar and simply builds up and down, adding piano and strings and then taking them out so beautifully that it makes you shiver. Alas, the rest of the compilation this is taken from suffers from poor sound quality. If anyone comes across the original Giancarlo Gazzani album, I'd be very keen to hear it, although I fear this track may be an isolated gem.

from Musica per commenti sonori
available on CD - Metti una bossa a cena (Schema)




  Swinging London: Really nice. Reminds me of a 1966 movie soundtrack. Now I've got to search for the song.
Andalucia  performed by John Cale  1973
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This is from a great album that I recently received as a gift. Andalucia opens with a beautiful echoey acoustic guitar. It's a tender, simple song, with delicate guitar playing, entertaining lyrics (like 'Andalucia - when can I see yer'), and a great melody. The atmosphere is enhanced by a steel guitar and some nice multitracked vocals. I guess Cale's voice is an acquired taste, but I find him rather earnest and charming.

from Paris 1919, available on CD



ano zero  performed by egberto gismonti  1972
Recommended by 77lemming [profile]

astonishingly beautiful, early 70s brazilian masterpiece. a classical piece disguised as a pop song, with a simple piano playing a wistful melody punctuated by an amazing unexpected ascending chord hook. gismonti sings the original version, with a string section and morricone-like wordless vocal backing him. for the final minute the key changes and the vocals and accompaniment stop, and the solo piano veers off into satie territory, before resolving back into the refrain. gismonti re-recorded this a few times, after finding success in europe as an avant/classical composer. this song also inspired the guitar and mandolin trio agua e vinho, who cover it on their self-titled album along with a few other gismonti compositions.

from agua e vinho, available on CD


Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl  performed by Broken Social Scene
Recommended by naked mardou [profile]

Haunting and magical with fragile, baby-doll vocals. The song describes common sentiments, repeating the phrase "park that car/drop that phone/sleep on the floor/dream about me" with such earnestness that, if you were the object of such affection, it would be nearly impossible not to come back.

This track is recommended for: fans of the Magnetic Fields, Radiohead


available on CD - You Forgot it in People (Arts & Crafts)


Any Girl Can Make Me Smile  performed by ANT  2002
Recommended by kkkerplunkkk [profile]

A beautiful, soft, sad, fragile piece about a couple breaking up and bursting into tears as they do. Incredible for its intimate feel and sparse instrumentation (voice, organ, harmonica, egg shaker) chilling lyrics 'you close your eyes but there's no paradise, you count the cost of all we've lost and all we've wasted'. It hits the nail bang on the head! Love it to bits.

from A Long Way To Blow A Kiss, available on CD


Anyway  performed by Barbara Lewis  1969
Recommended by delicado [profile]

Barbara Lewis was famous earlier in the sixties for 'Hello Stranger.' This is simple, soulful pop music with a very cool production: crisp drums and nicely orchestrated woodwind on top of rhythmic guitars. Somehow the charm of the recording overrides any feeling that the chord sequence is slightly obvious. Barbara's voice is beautiful here: emotional, yet understated. A small female choir comes in to accompany her at various points. The song is remarkably tight and catchy, with a prominent bass part driving it on. The producer at Stax for this record was Ollie McLaughlin, and I'm now looking out for more stuff that he worked on.

from Many Grooves of Barbara Lewis, available on CD




  Arthur: Ollie McLaughlin was a prolific producer. Look out for 45's on the Carla and Karen labels. They where both his labels
Are you happy ?  performed by Microdisney  1985
Recommended by whoops [profile]

During the summer of 1985 Microdisney had already lost all illusions about their potential commercially speaking. This second album was not what people would called a long awaited one. Recorded in a chaotic way (the drum part was the last thing to be put on the tape), this is a true masterpiece from track 1 to track 10 and "Are you happy ?" is its epicenter.
Cathal Coughlan (who at the time renamed himself Blah Blah and claimed to play keyboards and plastic pubis)is now a solo artist and still one of the most beautiful voice in england. Sean O'Hagan have finally achieved success through the High Llamas and Stereolab.

from The clock comes down the stairs, available on CD



  felonius: I have to agree. This is one of the most poignant, plaintive tracks I have ever heard, O'Hagan's soaring Telecaster solo launching it into orbit far above the mire of other 80's indie rock. (I think it might have been influenced by Stephen Stills' solo on 'Bound to Lose' from the Manassas album - another guitar solo to make you weep).
Arizona  performed by Kings of Leon  2006
Recommended by chiquitagina [profile]

It's beautifully orchestrated. The first few notes set the tone of the song automatically. The introduction has guitar, and drums kick in slowly, making a punch to the ears. It makes me want to drive slowly through a desert (which I am from Arizona) while the full moon is out, windows rolled down and the warm summer air drifting through them. Amazing song. Really does hit home for me.

from Because of the Times


At Last  performed by Etta James  1960
Recommended by Mike [profile]

Wonderful arrangement with lush string backing, great tune and sentiment, beautifully delivered, even a beautiful recording...just the blues exactly the way I like to hear it.

from At Last, available on CD


At My Most Beautiful  performed by REM
Recommended by javaviolet [profile]

This song is such a happy one, without being overly pop oriented. Just Michael Stipe's voice, a piano, simple percussion and the kindest words.

"I read bad poetry
Into your machine.
I save your messages
Just to hear your voice.
You always listen carefully
To awkward rhymes.
You always say your name,
Like I wouldn't know it's you,
At your most beautiful."





  FlyingDutchman1971: Mike Mills and Peter Buck orchestrated the music on this track as an homage to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. One of the best REM songs in recent years!
At My Most Beautiful  performed by R.E.M  1998
Recommended by acidburn [profile]

from Up


Atlantis  performed by Donovan  1969
Recommended by xfanatic50 [profile]

I feel like very few people fully appreciate the music of Donovan, which is a shame because he may be the greatest musician of the psychedelic era in the 60's. Atlantis is his best song. A sort of whimsical and beautiful song which tells the story of the lost continent. Probably the best psychedelic song there is. It lacks the self-indulgent meandering that plagued the Grateful Dead, and lacks the obvious drug references of most psychedelic music. It's not overly rock and roll, but not overly folk either. A brilliant song with a very strong, beautiful melody.

from Barabajagal (Epic)


Azure Blue  performed by Laika and the Cosmonauts  1995
Recommended by delicado [profile]

My obsession with this band continues. From a CD that failed to sell on ebay for 50 cents comes this amazing cut - a beautiful instrumental with prominent guitar and organ. While it's surf influenced, it goes beyond that. I'm kind of lost for words, but it's one of those 'This is the best track ever' tracks. You know what I mean?

from The Amazing Colossal band, available on CD



Baby Mine  performed by Alison Krauss
Recommended by 37piecesflair [profile]

Beautiful cover of the song from Disney's "Dumbo". It makes me cry nearly every time.

from Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney


Bachianas Brasilieras #5  performed by Lalo Schifrin  1964
Recommended by tinks [profile]

Beautiful summery easy-bossa arrangement of this Villa-Lobos orchestral piece. The tempo floats along at a lazy pace, augmented by gorgeous piano and flute solos, then comes to an abrupt end with a very cool bass riff. Apparently, Schifrin recorded another version of this song in 1996 on the "Gillespiana" album, and that features Karlheinz Stockhausen's son Markus playing trumpet!

from New Fantasy (Verve V-8601)




  Swinging London: NICE...very nice!
baked a cake  performed by Mick Thomas and the sure thing  2001
Recommended by phil [profile]

This chap Mick Thomas is extremely sentimental, and if you want to get into him, you have to expect to have your heart strings tugged pretty regular. However, if your make up is unashamedly sentimental as mine is, you can really get into this very plain, open and beautiful style of singing.

This one is one of Mick's best - I haven't quite worked out the genders on it (some people think he is singing as a woman in this one) but he certainly takes the place of a rather downtrodden, unconfident person. The chorus is very delicately judged:
I'd have baked a cake
if I knew you were coming
but now that you're here
it's time we did some talking
who'm I trying to kid?
I knew you'd be coming around


The backing is slow, but expressive hawaiian guitars subordinated to the lyrics. Mick's voice itself is incredibly expressive - he's a big old chap, and his voice has a lot of power but also it seems to have the sound of experience behind it. He also has a brilliant range -I've tried to sing this many a time and it's very hard.

from Dust on my shoes, available on CD


Balada para un loco   performed by Roberto Goyeneche
Recommended by muribed [profile]

A beautiful piece of Piazzolla, sentimental lyrics and nice vocals. The whole song is a work of art.




Ballad of Billy the Kid  performed by Ricky Fitzpatrick  2007
Recommended by jmalthew [profile]

Ricky Fitzpatrick's song "Ballad of Billy the Kid" is a 3 minute class in songwriting.

A compelling story filled with unexpected references, internal rhymes, interesting characters...not to mention his beautiful voice. His single acoustic guitar is the perfect backdrop for this tragic and beautiful story. A couple of four-letter words, but nothing that doesn't fit appropriately into the song as a whole.

Ricky's comment on the mystery of the song has always been "Never judge a man til you've walked a mile in his shoes".

I am a fan and always will be. I suggest checking Ricky out while he's still available as a "local" artist at www.rickyfitzpatrick.com.

from The Same Only Different, available on CD


Bare Bones and Branches  performed by Lewis and Clarke  2005
Recommended by theratking [profile]

Beautiful acoustic instrumentation
Two part vocals are well done
very moving
great composition, emotive climax

from Bare Bones and Branches


Beasts of No Nation  performed by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti & Egypt 80  1989
Recommended by phillphillphill [profile]

Here is a real music man from Africa who stirred alot of contraversy by forming his own political party and using his music as a weapon against the colonial british government. He wrote Beasts of No Nation in 1986 after spending 3 years in jail without being convicted. Beautiful voice!! Influenced by American jazz and Drum rhythms of west nigeria. Many consider him the African James Brown or Bob Marley, but this is not so. Find out for yourself!


available on CD - Beasts of No Nation/O.D.O.O. (MCA)


beautiful  performed by joydrop
Recommended by purrrgatory [profile]




Beautiful Dreamer  performed by Roy Orbison
Recommended by sixstringman [profile]

Written by Stephen Foster, it is given a wonderful treatment by Roy. If I was asked what song I would like to have played at my funeral this version of this song would be it. Not to be morbid, but this song is as beautiful (and peaceful)as its title and
was overlooked when a recent Stephen Foster tribute album was made a few years ago.




Beautiful Goodbye  performed by Cilla Black  2003
Recommended by Mister C [profile]

This is the best track on Cilla's new CD, 'Beginnings', its a cover, but she does it very well indeed.

from Beginnings (EMI)


Beautiful Goodbye  performed by Cilla Black  2003
Recommended by Mister C [profile]

A track from Cilla's recent album which really should have been a single, excellently sung and produced

from Beginnings (EMI)


Beautiful night  performed by The Burden Brothers  2004
Recommended by Reck [profile]

Ex toadies lead singer Todd (Vaden) Lewis, one of the best voices in rock today. Don't know if you get this goodness yet outside of texas, but the tour is upcoming, and I actually heard it on the radio (gasp) something the Toadies 2nd album didn't even get (a great sophmore release from a platinum selling band... hmmmm) anyway its uplifting and real, but does has a little of that Tv sheen on it that instills hope in you, even if life is never really as good as it promises.

from Buried in Your Black Heart


Before We Begin  performed by Broadcast  2003
Recommended by tempted [profile]

Peers and close friends of Stereolab, Birmingham's Broadcast are one of the most interesting alternative pop acts in the world. This song is an example of their extraordinary skills in crafting a haunting, beautiful melody to go with a sound that's like a son of the band The United States Of America and Ennio Morricone. These folks took four years building their own studio. Can't blame them a bit as the results are simply stunning.

from Ha Ha Sound, available on CD



  eftimihn: Oh yes, this track is gem, no doubt about that. To me the melody and harmonies incorporated are quite reminiscent of late 60s sunshine pop/soft rock stuff of that era.
  tempted: You're correct there. They must be fans of people like Curt Boettcher and Margo Guryan, too!
  tinks: i love this band. they are so very excellent to see live, as well. and they'll be here in about a month! woohoo!
Being Boring  performed by Pet Shop Boys  1990
Recommended by Genza [profile]

Surprised to see nothing by the Pet Shop Boys on Musical Taste. Now the only remaining intelligent British pop act, the Pet Shop Boys have consistently mixed dramtic chord changes with pathos-loaded lyrics. Being Boring is possibly their finest moment - reflective, sad and beautiful.

from Behaviour



  Mike: Totally agree re the worth of the PSBs output and the dramatic and very distinctive use of harmony therein. Several of their songs would be in my all-time favourites list if I ever made one.
Beside Me  performed by Mojo Men  1969
Recommended by Swinging London [profile]

This is a very beautiful track.

Very 'West Coast' late-60's sound. Quite reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane.

Very sweet, very melodic/melancholic.

Strings. Strong female lead vocal.

I originally heard it many years ago on a vinyl album by a group called 'Mojo' which is what The Mojo Men were apparently calling themselves in 1969.

I searched for the song for years, confused by the change of name & eventually found it on their CD compilation.

It's another one of those songs that should have been very succesful, but was just stuck in the middle of a flop album

from Sit Down It's The Mojo Men (Sundazed)
available on CD - yes (Sundazed)



Bitter-Sweet  performed by Roxy Music  1974
Recommended by delicado [profile]

For someone like me, the strangest thing about getting really into Roxy Music is the overt rockiness of a lot of their material. Even on this track, which is one more of their slower, more mournful numbers, there are a lot of very heavy rocky moments. They work pretty well though, and I'm certainly not complaining.

The atmospheric opening is breathtaking, and Bryan Ferry's vocal as he sings 'I've opened up my heart' is incredibly beautiful. The words and music seem to meld together in a very pretty way, but then before long the track mutates into a stomping, carnival like passage that clearly influenced Nick Cave to a considerable extent. Throughout the song there's this interchange between delicate, melodic verses and the rowdy, discordant section. Like another favorite Roxy track, 'Just like you', this song finishes with a clever chord change.

I'm sure many people would find 'Bitter-Sweet' much too dramatic and serious - perhaps some days I would too - but it does have an incredible elegance and style that makes me keep on listening.

from Country Life, available on CD



Black & White Eyes  performed by Syd Matters  2004
Recommended by sirjelind [profile]

It is very romantic and beautiful.

from A Whisper & A Sigh


Black Coffee  performed by Petula Clark  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

Regular visitors to this site will know I'm partial to this song and to the era of this recording. But nothing could have prepared me for the mind-blowing grooviness this Petula Clark version from 1968. It has a 'slightly too slow to dance to' funkiness, kind of like the tastiest version of 'Watermelon man' you ever heard. The arrangement has piano, bouncy drums, peppy brass, flutes, and to top it all, some beautiful strings adding some complexity to what is basically a simple bluesy composition.

Isn't it great when you come across a track and just think 'this is the best thing ever'?

The entire CD is great - 28 of Petula's grooviest tracks. I recommend it!

from The Other Man's Grass (Is Always Greener) (Pye NSPL 18211)
available on CD - Feelin' Groovy (Sanctuary)




  FlyingDutchman1971: Ah, Ms. Pet! She is one of my favorites too. I've managed to get my hands on most of her 60's catalog, including the original album this song comes from. Thanks for mentioning her! k.d. Lang also does a beautiful rendition of this great torch song on her album "Shadowland".
Bleak House  performed by Anthony Phillips  1978
Recommended by Mike [profile]

Subtle harmonic and textural touches lift this well above the ordinarily beautiful. It's varied and lasts nearly 6 minutes, building gradually, and keeps getting better until just before the end. You can tell at times that he's listened to "Ripples" and some of the good bits on "Wind and Wuthering", but this has its own space. The vocal is by a former Genesis roadie.

from Sides, available on CD


blind mary  performed by gnarls barkley  200?
Recommended by jimmyhoffa [profile]

Warm fuzzy electronic-future sounds from Cee-lo and Dangermouse's collective. The song is beautiful and sticky-to-the-brain at the same time, telling a charming story that could have been told during any age of the Earth. Blind Mary, marry me...

from The Odd Couple, available on CD


Blowin� Gold  performed by John Klemmer  1969
Recommended by mr_klenster [profile]

This is on my playlist for summer barbeque season. It's an unrelenting saxophone hurricane, with a beautiful warm sound, and great melodic soloing the whole way through. I love the tense break in the beginning that evolves into a total explosion, later punctuated with ecstatic moaning. A great groove.




Blown a Wish  performed by My Bloody Valentine  1991
Recommended by delicado [profile]

Considering how much I like this track, I'm surpised I didn't recommend it earlier. To me this is the standout from the band's seminal 1991 album 'Loveless'. To MBV fans, this track might seem an obvious one to recommend, but I think it sums up their appeal very well, with its beautiful ambient noises and simple but catchy melody. MBV's trademark use of weird echoey effects on the vocals and guitars is in full effect, and it's quite beautiful.

from Loveless, available on CD



  Genza: Agreed. My Bloody Valentine are a funny band. A lot of their (undoubtedly too short) back catalogue is either over-rated, unlistenable or over-rated. And this is from a confirmed 'fan'. Still, most of the bands I adore wouldn't have turned on the digital delay pedals without Kevin Shields, so I have something to be eternally grateful for. And Blown a Wish remains my closest call with pop perfection. Slightly warped and ill-at-ease, it is an almost unspeakably beautiful track. It still makes me ache in the pit of my stomach when I hear it.
  sinister: the sonic approximation of a kiss. i don't know. that's what this song gives me. the thrill of a first kiss. every time i hear it.
Bon-Jour  performed by Ed Lincoln  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

When I heard this album by the Brazilian organist Ed Lincoln, I really wasn't expecting a tune like this. It's a beautiful, tender vocal, sounding like something from a Francis Lai soundtrack, with lovely male-female alternating vocals and an exquisite Morricone style trumpet blending well with the guitar/organ/percussion instrumentation. An absolutely stunning track - playful but slightly sad at the same time, with some spooky laughter/sighing from the female singer towards the end.

from Ed Lincoln, available on CD




  n-jeff: Thats the thing with Lincoln, its not just the cheese, he played alongside the best Jazz musicians in Brazil. He could cut a pretty funk when the occasion demanded, and his "Seu piano eletrico" album ranges from african tinged stompers to mid sixties style vocal cuts. IMHO opinion underrated as a producer as well, he seems to have been active on the cutting edge of Brazilain music from the late fifties right through to the late seventies. I intended to use this track as the payoff for a compilation I did for a cd trading ring, but I don't think I had the space. He was in hospital just before Christmas (2003), not sure how he's doing now.
  delicado: I have to say, I'm pretty blown away by his work. I know you've been harping on about him for years, so I wish I had listened earlier!
  sodapop650: Ed Lincolns best work is the recordings he did with Orlann Divo becasue he is a little more low-key and the arrangements are just plain better. I love O Ganso cause its so damn crazy and his recordings under the name Claudio Marcelo are pretty good too. A rcord seller in Brazil actually got me his autograph as a present because I bought so many of Ed Lincolns LPs. But I gotta tell you, someone like Sergio Carvalho or Eumir Deodato are much more powerful on the Hammond and Ely Arcoverde, Juarez Sant'ana Ze Maria I think are all more mature organists. I put Ed Lincoln with Walter Wanderley a little heavy on the cheese.
Box of Rain  performed by The Grateful Dead  1970
Recommended by xfanatic50 [profile]

Written for Phil Lesh's dying father, this song flows beautifully, and is moving and poignant with an unorthodox melody. The opening track of the Grateful Dead's best and most beautiful album, and proof that you don't need to take drugs to enjoy the band.

from American Beauty (Rhino)



Bridge Over Troubled Water  performed by Simon and Garfunkel  1970
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

What a beautiful song from one of the most influential duos of the 1960's. Paul Simon has written some of the best songs of this past century and this is among his finest. The moving orchestration featuring piano, violins, and the booming kettle drums convey the emotions of this song in a way that transcends time. It is still as moving as it was 32 years ago at the time it was released!

from Bridge Over Troubled Water, available on CD


Brilliant Disguise (acoustic version)  performed by Bruce Springsteen
Recommended by CaitlinSpelledWrong [profile]

Seriously, who doesn't like Bruce. This has got to be his most beautiful song. If not please inform me of one that is better. If slower that the original version and it's performed with his wife. Just do me a favor and listen to the song.




Brilliant Trees  performed by David Sylvian  1984
Recommended by Mike [profile]

Beautiful and atmospheric music, superbly recorded. Intensely poetic lyrics. What an incredible advance this represents from his work with the band Japan! Superb synth voices from longtime collaborator Ruichi Sakamoto sound a searching chord sequence over which a gorgeous, heavily treated trumpet solo comes in and out. Sylvian's voice is richly expressive.

from Brilliant Trees, available on CD




  ronin: Bought album of same name due to tracks "Red Guitar" and "Pulling Punches" getting major airplay on DC radio at time. Was not disappointed! Moody and nice bass lines! Sylvian's voice is ... unusual.
Bring on the Love   performed by Gloria Jones  1978
Recommended by geezer [profile]

From a time when soul was shaking hands with disco,on this beautiful midtempo ballad the two genres are happy to live in a harmony.This is a track that is allowed to build upon a soft disco beat layer by layer ,a deceptive melody allows optimism to drip drip then flood your senses,leaving you feeling good about life and for once a song that is as long as you want it to be.A song that somehow takes you high without leaving its musical ground .

from Windstorm, available on CD


Broken Dream  performed by Justin Hayward  1996
Recommended by ChiswickChick [profile]

A stand-out track from "The View from the Hill" (1996), Justin Hayward's best solo album since "Songwriter" (1977) and one of Hayward's best ever ballads. All his trademarks are here - haunting melody (with the simplest but most beautiful intro), emotive lyrics, complimentary arrangement and that unmistakeable glorious voice.

from The View from the Hill (CMC International / BMG)


Broken Heart  performed by Spiritualized  1998
Recommended by tinks [profile]

A different version than the one that appears on "Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space", this one features a slightly slower tempo, a full gospel choir and some lushly arranged strings and horns. Absolutely beautiful...a longer instrumental version also appears on the EP.

from Abbey Road (EP), available on CD



  delicado: this was on my list to recommend too...but I've only heard the album version...what an astounding track! Will have to check out the EP...
Bumblebee  performed by Roman Andren  2008
Recommended by Festy [profile]

You'd be forgiven for thinking this one of Sergio Mendes' hipper tracks from his Brasil '66 or '77 period. It has that old sound to it and is really warm. It starts off breezy and builds with energy whilst Roman Andren, a young Swedish musician, composer and DJ, plays some beautiful electric piano over the top. Although it starts off with vocals over a sparse bass and electric piano combo, the vocals don't come in again until a while into the track. By the end of the track, the energy is at its most, yet still breezy, with brass, vocals and hand-claps providing a sense of a party. It's the perfect song for a summer's day or, close your eyes on a dreary winter's day and be transported.

from Juanita & Beyond : Live Studio Sessions, available on CD



Burden  performed by Opeth
Recommended by Darke Soul [profile]

This is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. Opeth's music is powerfully passionate and it shows strongly in this song. Sounds like the kind of song that would be at the ending credits of a sad movie.

from Watershed, available on CD


Bus Stop Boxer  performed by Eels
Recommended by Herr V [profile]

Relaxed and melancholic song... E's beautiful lyrics and the tasteful use of effects make this a song that stays with you the rest of the day.





California Soul  performed by Marlena Shaw  1969
Recommended by maumaugroove [profile]

A very good song. Deep soul with very beautiful string arrengments

from Spice of Life (Cadet)
available on CD - Anthology (Import)


call me alice  performed by rasputina
Recommended by licoricewhipped [profile]

this song is so creepy but beautiful.




Can't wait too long  performed by The Beach Boys  1967
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A superb, achingly beautiful song which, to my knowledge, never appeared on a Beach Boys album, and was merely a studio outtake. The track opens with an incredible dense wall of harmonized vocals, and emotive lyrics ("I miss you darlin, I miss you so hard"). Later, the rhythm changes, and it becomes (to my taste) slightly cheesily rocky, but not so much as to ruin the song, which still rates as one of the Beach Boys' finest.


available on CD - Smiley Smile/Wild Honey (EMI/Capitol)




  catfish: also check the different version on the box set. fantastic tune, and recorded after smile was shelved - proof that brian's genius endure a sea of troubles...
Cash Box  performed by Byron Lee & the Dragonaires  1970
Recommended by tinks [profile]

I spun this once on a friend's college radio show, and he said he had never heard a song with the bass mixed so heavily...honestly, the needle was so deep in the red we thought the Eisenhower-era console was going to explode. Once you get past that, you find yourself listening to an absolutely storming early reggae instrumental, with a beautiful slow, loping groove and a horn chart very reminiscent of a Stax session from around the same time. I met Lester Sterling in 1995 and talked to him about this song, he told me that he'd been trying to remember how it went for twenty years! Making me even prouder, the next time that the Skatalites came through town, they played it. The original Byron Lee LP that it appeared on has terrific naked lady cover art, to boot!

from Tighten Up! (Dynamic)
available on CD - Reggae Hot Shots, Volume 1 (Jamaica Gold)


Caught in a moment  performed by Sugababes  2004
Recommended by godnose [profile]

As well as being a lovely slow, dreamy romantic song it is one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful tunes I've ever heard.




Cecil Beaton�s Scrapbook  performed by Would Be Goods  1985
Recommended by andyjl [profile]


The finest moment of a legendary 80s UK indie label which fused a post-punk spirit with the best elements of 60s pop style - bossa nova, light psychedelia, girl groups. And pre-empted the lounge/easy listening revival by about 10 years. The Would Be-Goods were two sisters, Jessica and Miranda, who couldn�t sing and did so beautifully. The �l catalogue is being re-issued on CD by Cherry Red Records. Well worth checking out.


from The Camera Loves Me, available on CD


Champagne Supernova  performed by Oasis  1995
Recommended by Yellow_Custard [profile]

Just Beautiful.

from What�s The Story? Morning Glory


Change  performed by Blind Melon  1992
Recommended by Tetsuo [profile]

One of the better known Blind Melon songs of of their self-titled debut, yet still fairly unknown. This song is a personal favorite of mine and preceeds No Rain on the album tracklist. Lead singer Shannon Hoon's voice plays off the acoustic guitar beautifully and his simple message is clear, change is okay. My favorite lines in the song plead with us clear and simply that,

"When you feel your life ain't worth living you've got to stand up and take a look around you then a look way up to the sky.
And when your deepest thoughts are broken,
keep on dreaming boy, cause when you stop dreamin' it's time to die. "

Some may not like this song, but others will fall in love with it. I've grown up listening to this song and i have continued to love it.

Fun Fact:

Lead singer Shannon Hoon donned a question mark on his head and performed this song live on The late show with David Letterman shortly after Kurt Cobain's suicide, in his own way dedicating the song to him.

from Blind Melon, available on CD


Chanson D'O  performed by Francoise Hardy  1971
Recommended by delicado [profile]

You might be familiar with Francoise's incredible 1971 album La Question, a track from which was recommended by another user almost four years ago (Oui, je dis adieu). I managed to get a friend to copy the album for me at the time, and I recall being very taken by 'Viens', the first song. I put this track on a compilation but somehow never really savoured the album as a whole.

Recently I found I could get the album on CD, so picked it up (along with another interesting Francoise album, 'If you listen').

The difference for me now I have the CD is vast, and I'm now able to appreciate the album in all its glory. The clincher for me is the blend of percussive Brazilian guitar, beautiful strings, and the Melody Nelson-style sparseness of the arrangements.

I chose this track to recommend because of the bizarre extra dimension brought by the fact that Francoise is just scatting - there are no words - and the intermittent moments of complete silence, which are surprising and really hold the attention. Parts of the chord sequence remind me of Henry Mancini (in particular, a track called 'Softly' from the Mr Lucky soundtrack), while the overall effect of the sexy echoey vocal naturally brings to mind Ennio Morricone's work with Edda Dell'Orso.

from La Question, available on CD




  ambassador: this album's a favorite of mine, too. I also really like her album "Soliel" of a couple years earlier. The interesting thing about this album is that the Brazilian female guitarist Tuca (just one name) backed her on this as she did on Nara Leao's gorgeous tribute to Bossa Nova (recorded in France), "Dez Anos Depois." If you listen to these albums side by side you can clearly here the similarities, not to say they sound identical. And doesn't Fracoise look stunning on the b&w album cover?
cherish  performed by terry kirkman
Recommended by mario [profile]

soft, pop-rock. Itis simply beautiful. As good art should be, it is uplifting




Cherry, Cherry  performed by Music Machine  1967
Recommended by artlongjr [profile]

Just discovered this cover of the Neil Diamond song on Youtube, along with several other videos by the Music Machine, and it really stunned me. It's a beautiful soft pop version of "Cherry Cherry" complete with flute solo-nothing like the other songs I've heard from the band. Nothing garagey about it at all, more in the easy listening vein...and I mean that in a good way!

Another great cover version that the Music Machine do is "Hey Joe"-their's is my favorite version of that oft-recorded chestnut.


available on CD - Turn On the Music Machine (Collectables)


Children Of The Sun  performed by Dino Valente  1968
Recommended by Swinging London [profile]

A rather beautiful, melancholic song. Very West Coast 1968 sound, at it's emotional, sensitive, melodic best.



This song and artist should be and should have been far more well known.






  artlongjr: Dino Valente is one of those singers that people seem to either love or hate. I really like him overall and have his 1968 solo album on both LP and CD, and I also like many of the Quicksilver tracks he sang lead on, especially "Goodbye My Lady Love". He came out of the Greenwich Village folk scene and performed onstage with another of my favorites, Fred Neil. I hear he was a real character, though!
Church on white  performed by Stephen Malkmus  2001
Recommended by phil [profile]

Forget everything I wrote about Trojan Curfew - I have now decided that a) his new band can be pretty brilliant, and b) I slightly overrated TC - the music is astonishingly beautiful, but the lyrics are all downhill from the second verse.

Now - Church on white is the real deal. Yet more of Malkmus' beautiful, aching music (how _does_ he do it?), with his voice giving more meaning to lines such as 'carry on/ it's a marathon' than they probably deserve. The chorus of 'All you ever wanted/ was everything/ plus everything/ and the truth/ I only bought you/ half a lie' is one of his best, as is the instrumental break. His best solo effort, is my opinion for this evening at least.

from Stephen Malkmus (Domino WIGCD90)



Cinnamon and Clove  performed by Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66  1967
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A beautiful take on this tune, which sounds as if it were made for the group. The sound is typical of Sergio Mendes’s work - a strong driving bossa nova beat, a beautifully clean piano arrangement, and tasteful vocals.

from Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 (A&M SP4122)



Claudie's Stockings  performed by Jerry Goldsmith  1971
Recommended by bobbyspacetroup [profile]

Goldsmith's score to this (supposedly forgettable) action film is mainly in a Lalo Schifrin/John Barry bag. This track even recalls Les Baxter's best work of the era. It begins with the main theme reminiscent of Barry's "Ipcress File." I think they even use the same instrument, the cymbalum. The main them then breaks out into this beautiful, lush orchestration topped with electric organ, a funky electric bass, and a very nice backbeat. It totally sounds like "Que Mango"-era Baxter. Anyway, this track and really the entire score are very cool in their own right.

from The Last Run
available on CD - The Last Run/The Wild Rover (Chapter III)



Cleo  performed by Built to spill
Recommended by inbloom44 [profile]

A musical willow tree,It makes me want to curl up into a ball and drift off into a beautiful dream.




Close to You  performed by The Renaissance  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A great example of a classical-pop arrangement where a pop song gets a pseudo-classical treatment. Here, this Bacharach classic is rendered with harpsichord and wordless scat vocals, and the result is kitschy but also stunningly beautiful.

from Bacharach Baroque (Summit)




  scrubbles: That's a delightful little sample. I've also heard their wonderful rendition of "Always Something There to Remind Me" -- somebody's gotta put that album out on CD!
CLOWN  performed by THE HOLLIES  1966
Recommended by norfy [profile]

FROM THE 1966 'LP-FOR CERTAIN BECAUSE'-A HYBRID OF RUBBER SOUL AND THE BYRDS-COMPLETE BLURRED POP PERFECTION IN THE TIME IT TAKES TO MAKE A CUP OF TEA-SAD AND BEAUTIFUL AND A MILLION MILES AWAY FROM THE USUAL BEAT OF THE HOLLIES,IT SHIMMERS IN A SLOW MOTION 12 STRING DAYDREAM AND MAKES ME REALISE WHY I LOVE MUSIC AND WHY I AM STILL AWAKE WHEN I AM AT WORK IN 4 HOURS TIME-SEARCH FOR THIS AND WALLOW IN IT'S SPLENDOUR...........

from FOR CERTAIN BECAUSE, available on CD


com’è bella la sera  performed by Sandie Shaw
Recommended by trebole [profile]

Beautiful orchestration. Easy italian lyrics . Sandie's voice at her its best




come away with me  performed by norah jones  2002
Recommended by michellegsfl [profile]

slow, beautiful love song..... her voice is like butter... it almost makes you feel loved

from come away with me, available on CD


Come Live with Me  performed by Dorothy Ashby  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

An exquisite and much-sampled version of this nice tune from the Valley of the Dolls soundtrack. The slow, funky beat is simply one of the sweetest you will ever hear, and the harp melody is ethereal and beautiful.

from Afro-Harping, available on CD



Comin� Home Baby  performed by Claus Ogerman  1965
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This track wasn't what I expected. My previous favorite version of this song (although I have many) was probably the one by Mel Torme on his 1962 album 'Right Now'. And since that version was arranged by Ogerman, I had expected this version to be simply an instrumental version like Torme's recording - a cool, finger-clicking, jerky pop number. In fact, there's something much cooler and more sophisticated about this version.

The tune is picked out first by an organ, and then by the brass and woodwinds before returning to the organ, which then jams around the main tune. A really beautiful string section comes in early on, creating some unusual chords that really add to the song and work very well alongside the 'cool' effect of the organ and rhythm. I wish Claus had recorded more songs with this mixture of percussion, jazzy instrumentation and lovely thick string parts. A few tracks on one of his other 60s LPs, 'Latin Rock,' come close, but I'm not sure any of them are as nice as this one.

from Soul Searchin' (RCA LPM 3366)



Complex  performed by Gary Numan  1979
Recommended by geezer [profile]

At the time a unique fusion of cold synthetic and a warmer organic fragility,following two consecitive number ones "Are Friends Electric"and "Cars" this track revealed the enormous potential of Numan,s futuristic vision.A slow piano led "ballad" with aching cello and violin parts ,sad and beautiful and if i must say utterly pleasant.

from The Pleasure Principle
available on CD - Pleasure Principle


Conversazione  performed by Mina  1967
Recommended by eftimihn [profile]

Opposed to the dramatic Morricone interpretation of "Se telefonando", recommended elsewhere on Musicaltaste, Mina is in a beautifully light bossa mood here on "Conversazione". And the arrangement adequately reflects this with joyful flutes, gentle electric guitar and rather muted strings.


available on CD - Una Storia, Il Mito (Universal)



Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)  performed by Sarah Vaughn  1964
Recommended by Fig Alert [profile]

The most beautiful, sensual song I have ever heard in my life. It feels like a warm, tucked-in, comfortable sigh from a lover nestling in on your shoulder, holding you ever tighter while whispering words of love in your ear. Try to top that.

The Divine One pours herself into this number completely. Her serene confidence breathes a kind of hyper-life into the lyrics. But the way she caresses the melody and strokes it so adeptly with her brilliant vocals sends me right over the top every time.

If I ever fall in love again, the woman of my affections will, in my wildest, most fantastic dreams, melt with me on this.

Please excuse the sap...

from Viva Vaughn (Mercury SR 60941)
available on CD - The Girl From Ipanema: The Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook (Verve)




  FlyingDutchman1971: Blossom Dearie also performs a nice version of this great song on her 1964 LP 'May I Come In'
Cordeiro De Nanã  performed by João Gilberto  1980
Recommended by delicado [profile]

Just one minute and twenty seconds long, this a perfectly distilled piece of Brazilian pop/mood music. The song consists of a simple, beautiful chord progression, which is repeated over and over. João sings a simple vocal over his guitar, and then some brass and strings come in to join him. The arrangement is stunning: sweeping and beautiful, with a delicate, sparkly sound at the beginning and end. It sounds very like the work of Claus Ogerman (who arranged the tracks on 'Amoroso', which appears on the same CD), but in fact, it's arranged by Johnny Mandel. Although this was recorded in 1980, it has a timeless feel. The entire Amoroso/Brasil CD is quite incredible. It took a few listens to really hit home, but has now become one of my 'desert island discs'.

from Brasil
available on CD - Amoroso/Brasil (Warner Brothers)



  barry_c: I agree, a beautiful, beautiful tune. You should check out the original version of this tunes, by Os Tinco�s: http://www.luizamerico.com.br/fundamentais-tincoas.php
  kfigaro: I really love very much this song with these subtile orchestration of Johnny Mandel me two, and I also know the original version of Os Tinco�s (1977) which is very different and with verses that J.Gilberto don't sing... Thalma de Freitas also sing this dreamy tunes in her album (2004) _______________________ http://chantsetheres.over-blog.com/
  delicado: Just listening to this again a few years after my initial recommendation. It really does encapsulate a lot of the mysterious, seductive elements of Brazilian music for me.
Cos�e� l�amore  performed by Franco De Gemini  1971
Recommended by eftimihn [profile]

Beautiful vocal song from a little known italian soundtrack. The italians just couldn't do no wrong in the late 60s/early 70s, this just floats gently along with a flutes, harpsicord, sweeping strings and chorus. Nice, light vocals on top of it, can't identify the female vocalist though.

from Si Pu� Fare Molto Con Sette Donne, available on CD




  dominb: The English version of this I find unlistenable because of the truly horrific lyrics!
  eftimihn: Yeah that's right, only listened to the english version once and found it doesn't come close to the italian one.
Couleur Caf�  performed by Serge Gainsbourg  1962
Recommended by phil [profile]

I've tried quite a lot to get into African music and have only got into bits and bobs so far. However, what I have very successfully got into is a white frenchman, with an all french choir, based in Paris, singing songs in an african style. Any amount of race-focussed amateur psychoanalysis can be done on the above I know, but I also know that this song is absolutely fantastic. As far as I can tell, Serge's african work seems to be inspired by a genuine love of african music and singing, but it also has a very pop edge - maybe it is this crossover aspect that makes it so accessible. Anyway, in this one the lyrics are pretty seedy ("ce soir la nuit sera blanche"), but the singing and drumming are just so beautiful - it's a brilliant song.

from Gainsbourg Percussions
available on CD - Couleur Caf� (Mercury)



Creep  performed by Radiohead
Recommended by mattycobby [profile]

Just a great song. Musically it builds beautifully to the finale. A little depressing, but still, real life.

from Pablo Honey



  texjernigan: To bad its melody was copied off of the Hollies - The Air that I breathe. That'd be a good lawsuit
  brooksyinc: One of the only songs I'm aware of which identify with possibly millions of people
Creole  performed by Charlie Hunter Quartet featuring Mos Def  2001
Recommended by secularus [profile]

"Easy fantastic, lonely together.." - I have listened to this song at least 100 times since receiving it on Audiogalaxy. Simple yet beautiful. I never knew Mos Def had such a pleasant and sexy voice! I am in heaven when he sings "I just go walking in the rain ... when I feel you passing by..." The back drop is provided by the talented contemporary 8 string jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter (once a member of Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprosy).

from Songs from the Analog Playground (Blue Note)



Creole Love Call  performed by The Comedian Harmonists  1933
Recommended by delicado [profile]

An amazing and atmospheric track by this famous German vocal group. There are no words, and the music is produced largely accapella - from what I can hear, there's just piano accompaniment, with some incredible vocal effects that range from beautiful to plain bizarre. The trills and glissando effects are other-worldly, but what really steals the limelight is the tradeoff between a bizarre kitten-like voice and a deep foghorn at 2:12 (featured in the clip)!

None of this will make sense until you hear it, so let me just add that the whole thing has a really pleasant, lazy mood that strongly reminds me of that amazing scene in 'Wild at Heart' when Laura Dern is sat on the car at the gas station and Glen Gray and the Casa Loma band's 'Smoke Rings' is playing.


available on CD - The Comedian Harmonists (Hannibal)




  Turangalila: This track is marvelous, thanks for the heads up.
Crying On A Suitcase  performed by Casey James  2012
Recommended by saifcr [profile]

Song: Crying On A Suitcase
Genre: Country
Year: 2012
Album: Casey James

Crying On A Suitcase is the second Track of the Casey James Self Title Debut Album.
It's a very Beautiful Song... i loved it.
Listen it... i'm sure Country Music Lovers will sure love it...

from Casey James



  saifcr: Sorry, It was Release in 2011 not in 2012*
Daddy  performed by Beyoncé Knowles  2003
Recommended by trixlation [profile]

it's a very beautiful song!! The piano in the background is sooo soulful!
I think, beyoncé sings in this song about her true experiences and feelings.

from Dangerously in Love, available on CD


daniella  performed by Shack  1999
Recommended by simon [profile]

a song perched on the end of Shack's half realised album'H.M.S Fable'album-a haunting folk ballad that is close to death and as beautiful as a sunny winter's morning...the melody spooks you and as the head brithers are no starngers to the perils of hard drugs it makes the song even more poignant.the Head brothers continue to remain the U.K's most underrated songwriters-sort of like the older,wiser and more sussed father's of the Coral and all those new scally psych bands that will never be anywhere as good as this...investigate!!!

from H.M.S Fable, available on CD


Dansero  performed by Richard Hayman  1969
Recommended by delicado [profile]

The album that this track is taken from was one of those strange albums that acquired mythical status in my mind. Based on a mixture of rumor and personal imagination (I could never actually find a copy), I convinced myself that this must be the coolest album ever made, a perfect fusion of moog, latin and mod sounds. A few years later I picked up the album very cheaply on ebay. Beautiful and interesting as it is, many of the tracks go slightly over the line for me.

'Dansero' is the only track on the LP that captures the blend that I was looking for. It's nice and short at under 3 minutes, and features a delightfully kooky introduction that sounds like the Jean-Jacques Perrey moog flourishes that the group Stereolab sampled on their 'Transient Random Noise Bursts...' album. The drums and moog then join up for a nice pop instrumental, catchy and bouncy. Different moog effects are piled on, but always quite effectively, making this one of the most enduringly successful moog-pop tracks in my collection.

from Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine (Command)



Desire  performed by Ryan Adams
Recommended by CaitlinSpelledWrong [profile]

OMG, a song that actually has a beautiful sound and beautiful lyrics....you're kidding me? Ryan Adams has a soothing voice and beautiful lyrics to go with it. "All this waiting for the power, for some answer to this fire, sinking slowly the water's higher...Desire"




Desire Lines  performed by Lush  1994
Recommended by parlop [profile]

So beautiful and quietly emotional as a lot of shoegazing is. One of their longest songs... it starts out with the wailing guitar melody that's repeated throughout and accented by Miki Berenyi's calm and melancholy vocals, but the instrumental parts are really the most prominent parts of the song. The best part is at around 3:53 when the guitars go crazy. the whole thing seems very representative of sadness and getting to that point where you just can't hold it in anymore and you start weeping hardcore. it's a good song... the only one that can make me cry over and over again.

from Split (4AD)


Desired Constellation  performed by Bj�rk  2004
Recommended by maansloep [profile]

One of the most beautiful songs on Med�lla. Just gorgeous.

from Med�lla, available on CD


Desiree  performed by The Left Banke  1968
Recommended by tempted [profile]

If romantic, dramatic, emotionally fragile and beautifully orchestrated baroque pop with woodwinds moves you then you're blessed... by me.


available on CD - Complete Recordings (Mercury)




  gaymod: is this a cover of the old doo wop standard ? which Zappa was involved in
  tempted: No, it's a Left Banke original.
  Swinging London: Haven't heard that for years! Nice to be reminded of it. My fave by them is 'Pretty Ballerina'. As far as I know, they never had a hit here in England.
det sista �ventyret  performed by sagor & swing  2003
Recommended by olli [profile]

dreamy, ultrascandinavian mellow forest music played on drums and electric organ. beautiful. simple melodies that make me think of mist, small cabins in the woods, owls and little lakes.
try listening to this when you're far from civilization. it's amazing.


available on CD - allt h�nger samman (hapna)



Diabolic Scheme  performed by The Hives  2004
Recommended by xfanatic50 [profile]

The Hives best song of their career thus far. A brilliant ballad in the middle of their most hard rocking album yet. Howlin' Pele Almqvists voice drawls menacingly over guitar and strings that play as though the earth is collapsing. An incredible and beautiful song from an otherwise hard rocking band.

from Tyrranosaurus Hives (Interscope)


Di�logo  performed by Marcos Valle and Milton Nascimento  1969
Recommended by scrubbles [profile]

Gorgeous, sensitive piano-driven ballad with Valle and Nascimento trading lines. This reminds me of how rare it is to find a duet with two men (makes me wish I knew Portuguese to understand the lyrics!). Beautifully sung and arranged, the tune is pretty much an ideal melding of Valle's and Nascimento's sounds.

from Mustang C�r de Sangue, available on CD


Diamond Sea  performed by Sonic Youth
Recommended by Reina [profile]

mellow, beautiful, haunting song...good for summer night listening




Dining Alone  performed by Carla Bley
Recommended by mr_klenster [profile]

The balance of beautiful, introspective lyrics (which are mostly spoken rather than sung), and lonely instrumentation combine to create a top-notch stunner. As a whole the album Dinner Music is a very eclectic and interesting assortment of songs. I wish "the lights wouldn't turn low and it wouldn't be time to go", but the way this song captures the feeling of yearning and melancholy is absolutely perfect.





Distant Shores  performed by Chad and Jeremy  1966
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A beautiful piece of soft pop. Ok, it's corny - the chord sequence is kind of soppy and the lyrics are kind of obvious, but the arrangement and singing are so lovely that I can listen to this song again and again. Opening with a catchy picked acoustic guitar riff, the arrangement soon thickens with with a full orchestra. The singing is deadly serious and amusingly precious throughout the song, and the orchestral arrangement, heavy on oboes and flutes as well as strings, is anything but hip. Still, the song’s simplicity and innocence are really quite charming. I never really got into any of Chad and Jeremy's other songs nearly so much as this one, so any recommendations for similar songs would be welcome. Do me a favor and listen to this and tell me if I’m crazy to love it so much.

from Distant Shores, available on CD




  tempted: Oh yes, it is pure gold. I can recommend anything by The Left Banke, Scott Walker, Margo Guryan, New Colony Six, Sagittarius, The Millennium... Gary Usher from the last two mentioned was the producer on many of C & J's songs.
Distopian Dream Girl  performed by Built to Spill  1996
Recommended by indiegal [profile]

he woke with a head full of bed full of what she said.

such a beautiful captivating song.

from there is nothing wrong with love, available on CD


Dive  performed by HEAVEN 17  1996
Recommended by beautifulmutant [profile]

Not since the mid-eighties have Heaven 17 nailed a song so beautifully. "Let Me Go" eschews icy synthetic, new wave romance gone wrong. "Dive" updates it for a newer generation. Beautiful music and a sound which makes you wonder where the hell they've been hiding for umpteen years. Sadly, heaven 17 disappeared again after 1996 and have yet to resurface... The album "Bigger Than America" I consider to be their best.

from Bigger Than America


Do it again  performed by Ronnie Aldrich  1969
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This is pure fun, a track with that 'easy cheesy' sound which many people love to hate. But wait, this is brilliant! Although rather clunky and an extremely 'square' take on 'hip', this is quite magnificent, honestly. Backed by a relentless beat, Ronnie plays the tune on 2 pianos, while for the bridge section the superb harmonies in the Beach Boys original are played out beautifully by the London Festival Orchestra. Although it's something of a guilty pleasure, I have to recommend this track very highly. Listening to it now on headphones, I notice that it even has that stereo effect having each piano come out of a different channel, an effect used to great effect on his version of 'soulful strut'.

from This Way (London/Phase 4 SP 44116)




  tinks: and here i was convinced that i was the only person in the world that liked this album! the cover of "mas que nada" on here is great!
Do Like I Do  performed by Kim Weston  196?
Recommended by BlueEyedYe-Ye [profile]

Quite possibly the most beautiful soul ballad of the late 60s.... despite being a slow song it is incredibly uplifting.... it speaks of holding out for someone you truly love when temptation surrounds you, which fits perfectly with my mindset. "Just remember that lovers have sorrow.... just remember we'll make up tomorrow". Immensely touching, beautiful and timeless.


available on CD - Greatest Hits And Rare Classics (CD) (Spectrum/Universal)


Do You Know The Way To San Jose?  performed by Bossa Rio  1969
Recommended by konsu [profile]

WOW! We all know how much the brazillians love Burt, well, this is a fine example of how well he was interpreted by the south.



They keep the original arrangement but spice it up a bit with snappy side-stick beat and pumped-up organ stabs ala' Wanderley.The singers are (I believe) Gracinha Leporace & Pery Ribeiro,and they harmonize beautifully as Manfredo Fest rythmically taps his organ paired with piano in a sumptuous unison.They carry the song along in gradually ascending stages of bliss,until they drop away only to build "Do-you -know-the-ways"in an rounded refrain to finsh it off...Absolutely gorgeous! Produced by Sergio Mendes in his imitable style!!!Also check out their version of "Up, Up, And Away", from the same LP.

from Bossa Rio, available on CD



Don’t Say A Word  performed by Phantom Limb
Recommended by daniela_por [profile]

A simply beautiful song. Such a wonderful voice...




Don't Go Breaking my Heart  performed by Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A beautifully gentle and textured version of this song, led by some great group harmony vocals. These are backed by a gentle bossa nova beat, electric harpsichord, and strings which sweep in and out. Gentle and addictive listening.

from Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends (A&M)
available on CD - Complete (Polydor Japan)




  rum: Oh there�s certainly no denying it, this track has an irresistibly seductive melody but there�s no chance I�d be seduced. Oh rum, you�re just being silly, she�d say, �don�t make a mountain out of a grain of sand�� silly?! I caught you in bed with the Mayor of Pensacola, Florida� this is no grain of sand my dear! But rum, it was just one time, a silly mistake, �one drop of rain doesn�t make the sun run away�, does it? Are you mad? What kind of reasoning is that? 17, 18� eighty-seven drops of rain wouldn�t either. So what are you trying to tell me? Am I to hold out for a rainstorm of two-timing before getting in a huff? The summer of love ended last September. This is 1968, the year of revolution, of fighting in the streets, of� but then she�d put her finger on your lips, �DON�T� go breaking my heart�� and look up at you with the innocence of a wee lamb. Oh, you so want to forgive her. Maybe I�ll give her just one more chance, it is such a beautiful melody� �I�ll love you till the sky falls down, even then� you�ll remain in my heart� Ahh, no, no, I�m not falling for that. I�m not an idiot, that�s impossible. Now I know you�re having me on. I�m not getting caught in your web of lies you, you, you� Your melody maybe sweet but your argument stinks. Go on get out, strumpet! ��come to my arms, forever�� No, no, clear off. ��teach my heart how to smile?...� OUT!
Don�t talk (put your head on my shoulder)  performed by The Beach Boys  1966
Recommended by Mike [profile]

A song whose verse is achingly beautiful for its harmony, melody and arrangement - so much that it stopped me in my tracks when I heard it playing in a record shop recently. Interestingly it took me many years of familiarity to really appreciate this track, which is in stark contrast to "God Only Knows", which I have loved since the first time I heard it.

from Pet Sounds, available on CD


Dream a little dream  performed by Billie Holiday
Recommended by inbloom44 [profile]

A beautiful,wistful and classic ballad sung by one of the greatest voices of all time.





  xfanatic50: Love, love, love this song... Billie Holiday has such an amazingly raw voice.
Driftwood  performed by The Moody Blues  1978
Recommended by elfslut [profile]

I'm a sucker for soft lilting melodies, and I have to say, Justin Hayward always delivers on that. This song is just beautiful with lyrics that go "Time waits for no one at all, no not even you..Don't leave me driftwood on the shore" You get transported to some mythical time and place, that only Hayward can take you too.

from Octave (Polydor)


Drowse  performed by Queen  1976
Recommended by Ozmala [profile]

Not sure what to say about this one. It makes me feel sick. In a good way. It's very beautiful, especially when you listen to the lyrics, and � well, it just makes me feel like I've had too much candy, or like I'm bloated on wistfullness. His (Roger Taylor's) voice is very emotional. The slide guitar is lovely, too.

from A Day at the Races (Hollywood Records)


Drugs  performed by This Mortal Coil  1986
Recommended by robert[o] [profile]

Perhaps the least typical track from the 4AD house band � and, ironically, one of the project�s great triumphs. Abandoning for a moment their gorgeous� prototype - beautifully dreamy soundscapes and/or readings of songs by Tim Buckley, Alex Chilton, etc. � this Talking Heads cover is little more that a series of grinding, funky sample loops w/Alison Limerick�s soulful vocals drifting in and out. A brilliant rethink of the song, that anticipates (perhaps influenced?) the Bristol/trip-hop mob - Portishead, Tricky, Massive Attack, et al. (Can still be found as a vinyl 10� single, if you look hard.)

from Filigree & Shadow (4AD)
available on CD - Filigree and Shadow (4AD)



  kohl: great band.
  konsu: Sort of ironic too, considering an interview with Ivo I once read with a short list of groups he wished he'd signed to 4AD, which included Portishead. TMC was such an ifluential project that completely escaped the 80's indie mainstream indeed.
Du e f�r fin f�r mig  performed by dungen  2004
Recommended by olli [profile]

Outstanding Swedish psychpop, sounds like the aural lovechild of an orgy between sigur ros, hansson & karlsson and radiohead's karma police. gorgeous stringwork. ends in a psychedelic freakout.
the whole album is pretty good (imo the best swedish record of 2004), don't hesitate to buy the swedish import if you come across it..






  tempted: This is indeed great! Dungen deserve 100% of the attention he has received stateside recently. Ta Det Lugnt reminds me of another one of the great psych-pop albums of all time which is S.F. Sorrow by The Pretty Things. Although Dungen perhaps comes from a sunnier place and definitely from the Swedish woods. I don't think Radiohead and Dungen have much in common, though. There are so many colours to psychedelia...
  olli: don't get me wrong, i'm not saying dungen sounds like radiohead...just that this particular song shares some musical texture with karma police
Each Coming Night  performed by Iron and Wine
Recommended by tartpops [profile]

Beautiful and relaxing- everything you would want from I&W.




Early Sherwood  performed by Philamore Lincoln  1968
Recommended by geezer [profile]

From a recent cd re-issue of a for once real lost classic from the enigmatic but well connected Mr Lincoln. This sort of mines the same seam as Syd Barrett but this is psyche pop firmly rooted in English folk/folkloreand the joining of a collage of three different song parts,what some would refer to as an opus or epic.Haunting nursery rhyme intro makes way for weird fairground interlude and lysergic distraction before concluding with the painfully beautiful intro section,before finishing way too early for its own good.They dont make them like this anymore and couldnt if they tried this is from a different time and place.

from The north Wind blew South
available on CD - The North wind Blew South


Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell  performed by The Flaming Lips  2002
Recommended by pleasepleaseme [profile]

Funky Rock. Nice Title! Sweet Lyrics. And i love the Beach Boys break. Move over George Martin!
Is this the best concept album since "Dark Side Of The Moon / Wish You Were Here". Or Maybe even "�Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/�Magical Mystery Tour"? Very Trippy Rock! Nice electronics. How do you sound like Neal Young, Bread, America, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, David Bowie, Beach Boys and the Beatles all at once? You can hear the full album through the thier site: www.flaminglips.com
Super Generous & Super Talented. One of the most beautifully produced albums ever!
POP HEAVEN! "Light Side of the Moon" for the new millennia.

from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, available on CD



Enchanted Lady  performed by Milt Jackson  1969
Recommended by mr_klenster [profile]

Jazz music for a hazy dream. Clean and simple arrangement with nice moments of well-articulated soloing. Altogether beautiful, with a cool and detached sound.

from Memphis Jackson


Eos  performed by Ulver  2007
Recommended by mardikas [profile]

smooth, ambient, electronic sound + low, soft vocals.

It is beautiful, calm, mellow and airy. (why I like it)




Everloving  performed by Moby  1999
Recommended by Rena Blue [profile]

I am a massive Moby fan, but this has to be my favourite piece of his music. The album version fails to do the arrangement justice. But most beautifully done 'Live on TV Jools Holland' this recording is unfortunately only available on 'Moby Play The dvd'.

from Play, available on CD



Everybody Hurts  performed by R.E.M.  1992
Recommended by xfanatic50 [profile]

If you're ever depressed and feeling really low, just put this song on... and everything will be ok. Inspiring and incredibly beautiful.

from Automatic For the People (Warner Bros.)



  CaitlinSpelledWrong: It's a great song and the video might be even better. Scratch that out, you can't compare the song and the video. Just know that the video is amazing.
  ambassador: i just heard this song again on the radio after not hearing it for a couple of years and it became so clear to me that the boys from R.E.M. masterfully created a modern, pleading soul ballad. Notice the breakdown at the end and you can almost imagine Mike Stipe down on his knees pleading to the audience, ala James Brown. Love the song even more now.
Everybody’s Got to learn Sometime  performed by The Korgis  1979
Recommended by Mike [profile]

An absolute classic of British pop. Beautiful song whose verses and chorus each use original and stunningly effective chord sequences. The verse's melody line is exceptionally fine, as is the atmospheric production.

from Dumb Waiters (Rialto)
available on CD - Don't Look Back - the very best of the Korgis (Castle)


Excuses  performed by the morning benders
Recommended by emmacc [profile]

A beautiful wall of sound

from Big Echo


Fadeaway  performed by Laika and the Cosmonauts  1990
Recommended by delicado [profile]

No one talks about this band much. Not in my experience, anyway. It's all instrumental, so I guess they're not for people who are lost without vocals and lyrics. But have a listen - to me they really seem utterly superb. I would love to see them live.

I only have a couple of albums, but they're great. This one was released in 1996 (shit - that was 9 years ago!), but recorded in 1990. Really beautiful twangy surf-pop that fits in perfectly with the whole David Lynch mood that I find so appealing. The album is an intoxicating mix of energetic surf tracks and slower, more atmospheric ones like this. Their recent 'Local Warming' album is great too. Can anyone recommend me any more of their tracks?

from Zero Gravity, available on CD



  olli: Yeah, they're certainly one of the better neo-surf acts out there. See Laika! Se Laika run! Go laika, go!
Fairytale of New York  performed by Kirsty MacColl with the Pogues  1987
Recommended by Mike [profile]

The first 1 minute and 23 seconds of this are beautifully adapted from the main theme of Morricone's "Once upon a time in America" ("Deborah's theme"). Well, the first line of the vocal melody of this is actually directly lifted from Morricone's first line, but we won't over-emphasise the point. (I just hope Ennio got his royalties!). The vocal performance of Shane McGowan of the Pogues is something one can either see some merit in or not, but it has a certain musical expressiveness.

The same "Deborah's theme" is used again repeatedly in the second half of the track, particularly the instrumental fade, but nowhere with the effectiveness of the first 1:23.




Faithfully  performed by Journey
Recommended by daniela_por [profile]

Beautiful song. It starts with a piano. "I'm forever yours, faithfully..."




Famous Blue Raincoat  performed by Tori Amos
Recommended by Reina [profile]

Originally performed by Leonard Cohen, Famous Blue Raincoat is dark and poignant with beautiful lyrics. Tori Amos performs it wonderfully.

"One more thin gypsy thief..."




Fault Lines  performed by Radiogram  2000
Recommended by mitchiavelli [profile]

'Fault Lines' is a beautiful, slow melodic number from Radiogram's debut album 'Unbetween'.

After listening to 'Fault Lines' and 'Unbetween' it came as no great surprise to discover that this band has enjoyed great success in roots music circles in Canada and the UK.

Strangely, the 'ethereal' sound achieved by the producer [Chon] reminds me of Jane Siberry's 'When I Was a Boy'.

from Unbetween, available on CD


Fever Dreams  performed by Circa Survive  2010
Recommended by Kalaier [profile]

latin influenced, amazing vocals, opening guitar line is fantastic, lyrics are beautifully written, This song is just really powerful!

from Blue Sky Noise, available on CD


Fidelity  performed by Regina Spektor  2007
Recommended by bikinisunday346 [profile]

The song has a soft piano/banjo/orchestra backround. The music flows through the heart with a soft melancholic note. Her voice reminds me of a sad cashier and a movie star combined. She isn't like any other singer i've ever heard. The lyrics related to me extremely well and made me truly smile. It truly is a beautiful song

from Begin to Hope



  mattishere: wonderful song. thank you
Fire and Rain  performed by John Gregory  1972
Recommended by delicado [profile]

In my experience John Gregory is one of the most consistently superb British arrangers of the 60s and 70s. I've never really heard anything I didn't like by him, although I understand that he was very prolific and that I've barely scratched the surface so far.

His arrangements have simultaneously a bite and a beauty that few others were able to match. Although not much of his work is available on CD, there's one excellent disc, 'Mission Impossible and other themes', that compiles most of his 'big band crime jazz' work, dating from the early 1960s to the mid 1970s. The disc isn't very excitingly packaged and can be had very cheaply, but it's full of outstanding tracks.

'Fire and Rain' is from a 70s album (I have it on a Philips sampler from the early 70s), and is a sumptuously arranged instrumental in the vein of some of the work of other British arrangers of the era, such as Johnny Harris and John Schroeder.

Of course, the song was written and originally recorded by James Taylor. His track is quite nice, but maybe it helped that I came to this version 'fresh', without having heard the original. This happens to me a lot, and Gregory's full arrangement and jazzy touches definitely elevate the track for me.

The melody is carried by a beautifully played trumpet, and later by the strings. There's a strong beat throughout, and a particularly groovy break towards the end with some great brass.

from Gregory Conducts... (Philips)



Flood  performed by Boris  2000
Recommended by Sandwiches [profile]

This album has been so amazing to listen to lately. From the beginning riff that is looped and over and over and enventually shifted around 360 degrees with a simple delay into a beautiful guitar arrangement and of course Boris' most notable feedback/fuzz perfection. Much like the new album, this arrangement reminds me of the type of music Godspeed You Black Emperor might make if they were a little darker, a little heavier, and a lot more Japanese. From the solos to the repetition of drums and sludge, I can always throw this on riding the train home and forget about all the ugly bullshit I had to put up with during the day.


available on CD - Flood (MIDI Creative)


Fools in Love  performed by Inara George
Recommended by mellocello [profile]

A beautifully lilting modern waltz. Bittersweet fingerpicked guitar in the background and a wonderful haunting voice, I'm assuming Inara George herself. I'd love to learn more about the artist. A beautiful song of the bitter side of love, "fools in love they think they're heroes, because they get to feel no pain, i say fools are lovers' heroes, i should know, i should know because this fool's in love again." I just love songs like this. I first heard it watching Grey's Anatomy. So I looked on Amazon at the playlist for the soundtrack and found it. Definitely a great song in my book.
She has a website: www.inarageorge.com and unfortunately she just finished a tour.

from Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack


For a short time  performed by Tiddas  1998
Recommended by phil [profile]

Absolutely fantastic, amazing, beautiful singing - it'll really knock your socks off. The tiddas seem to concentrate on singing above everything else - they are three women, two of whom play the acoustic guitar, and that's it, but the result is just sensational harmonies and brilliant interpretations of songs, some of which are aboriginal folk songs, others their own, and others just covers.

This is a cover of a song by the splendidly-named Weddings, Parties, Anything. Both versions are absolutely brilliant but the singing on this tiddas one is just out of this world.

from Lethal by the kilo, available on CD


For All We Know  performed by Nina Simone  1957
Recommended by executiveslacks [profile]

I haven't heard any other versions of this song, although I can't imagine anyone else making it their own to extent Ms Simone does. With just a piano and her voice, it's such a beautiful yet majestic song.

from My Baby Just Cares For Me, available on CD


For Love  performed by Lush  1992
Recommended by parlop [profile]

"this is so real, it's what i feel. i look in your eyes and lose myself" this song is a great dream-poppy ditty about someone falling in love with falling in love... which is kind of cheesy in a sense... but Lush just does it so amazingly. I really like how this band really embraces their girly-ness and doesn't try to act like their trying to keep up with the boys as many female-led bands from their era were doing. the background vocals are amazingly beautiful as are the guitar solos. There's a nice, lush, romantic feeling received from listening to this song. the imagery from the aforementioned lyric is very nice as well.

from Spooky (4ad)


for no one  performed by caetano veloso
Recommended by olli [profile]

beautiful bossa nova-tinged version of the lennon/mccartney song.


available on CD - calquer coisa




  Mister C: Give Cilla Black's 1966 version a listen, its excellent. Its very tenderly sung with a beautiful arrangement.
For No-One  performed by Cilla Black  1966
Recommended by Mister C [profile]

This beautiful cover of the Beatles song was buried on a b-side in the UK in 1966,it deserved to have been a big hit for Cilla. Cilla's treatment and George Martin's arrangement make this essential listening.


available on CD - The Essential Cilla Black (EMI)



  olli: Cilla Black is definetively one of my favourite performers of Lennon/mccartne- related material. Her voice is just incredibly right for this style of music..great stuff.
For Once In My Life  performed by Pia Zadora  1986
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

Do not rub your eyes, you read that right, PIA ZADORA! Don't stop reading now, I promise you this is not a joke! Who knew that the squeaky little girl with the string of bad movies and the chubby cheeks had such a great voice. I didn't and was only buying the LP with the expectation of amusement at how hilariously bad this listening experience was going to be, but I am now a convert and you will be too if you ever chance to come across this rare out-of-print album. With the help of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the lush arrangement by Robert Farnon, Ms. Zadora takes this classic Stevie Wonder track and transforms it into a beautiful torchy anthem that escalates to a triumphant finish!

from I Am What I Am (CBS/Columbia BFZ 40533)


Forbidden Colours  performed by David Sylvian  1987
Recommended by Mike [profile]

A re-recording, with Sylvian's lyrics, of Sakamoto's instrumental track written a few years earlier for the film "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence".

Delicately, poignantly beautiful; an exquisite piece (ok - song) which used to be available as the "extra" track on CD versions of Sylvian's most consistent album, "Secrets of the Beehive".


available on CD - CDV 2471 (Virgin)


Forma 2000  performed by Nicola Conte  2000
Recommended by Tantibaci [profile]

This instrumental is 5:58, but as far as I'm concerned it could go on for another 10 minutes...an affirmative, beautiful, cinematic number that cruises along with you and your ragazza on the autostrada (with the top down)

from Jet Sounds (Italia) (Schema Records SCCD314)
available on CD - Bossa per due (U.S.)


Frank Mills  performed by Sandie Shaw  1970
Recommended by jeanette [profile]

Always one of my favourites from Hair for its cutie-pie quality. I think it encapsulates a certain kind of teenage girl, forward but fickle, scared but full of bravado. And that's very unusual for a song to do; the complexity of pubescent girls is very rarely explored without titillation and / or simplicity.

Sandie, hardly a teen herself at 23, nevertheless gives this a very beautiful interpretation in French. Her accent to me sounds good but what do I know, I can barely manage "la plume de ma tante".

Good accompaniment arranged by her long-time collaborator Ken Woodman.

from Pourvu Que Ca Dure, available on CD




  Kevinattheabbey: There is now an English version available of Sandie's 'Frank Mills' (previously unreleased). It's on 'Reviewing The Situation' (EMI 7243 8 66108 2 9) Also has a great cappella version of Paul McCartneys 'Junk' on it.
Freio Aerodinamico  performed by Os 3 Morais  1969
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A truly incredible vocal/jazz pop track which really has everything. Os Tres Morais were (are?) a mysterious Brazilian vocal trio. Here they tackle a great Marcos Valle song, and do such a storming job of it that this may be one my very favorite tracks EVER in the whole world ever! Honestly. Until I put a sound sample up, please accept these measly words of explanation:
1. It's bouncy and smooth and has warm strings
2. It's actually quite funky as well
3. The vocal harmonies are fantastic. I don't think there are any actual words - it's all just beautiful interwoven sound
4. Someone starts playing a scratchy electric guitar rebelliously at end of the song, completely out of context with the rest of it. It sounds cool.

from Os Tres Morais
available on CD - Blue Brazil volume 2 (EMI UK)




  tinks: i have a sneaking suspicion that os tres morais and os tres brasilieros were in fact the same group...the reason that i say this is because os tres brasilieros were a family group comprised of two brothers and a sister, whose last name just happened to be "morais". if so, have a look for the album that i've made a recommendation from. it'd seem to jive, since this comp is on emi, and the lp i have is on capitol.
  delicado: hmm, interesting. Shame there is a dearth of info available for either group... are os tres brasilieros consistently good, out of interest?
  tinks: well, the album i have is pretty standard vocal bossa & samba-type stuff, but it's not bad. very easy to listen to, and there are a few inspired moments. i'll check the liner notes to see if i can garner any more info on them.
  clmarcel: i think the correct name this band is "os tres moraes". here in Brazil, moraes is frequently a last name, while "morais" can be traduzed by "ethics", "moral".
  clmarcel: sorry, i made a mistake. The real name is MORAIS. The link to this band is http://acesso-raro.blogspot.com/ . There can be downloaded the mp3 e see the album cover.
  Luroberto: This ensemble was the best one in the end of the 60s in Brazil. The accurate voise of Jane Moraes was simply marvelous. They have been influenced by Les Swingle Singers. They began their career singing music erudite and in a second moment they joined Bossa Nova hits of Chico Buarque and Tom Jobim. They have enregistered three LPs. When Jane married Herondy and make the kitsch couple Jane & Herondy her brothers relpaced her by Ana Lucia and after one last LP they splited the ensemble for separate careers. One of them is now new as "Santo Morales", a bolero singer. One of their best hits was O Sonho (The Dream), 1968, of Egberto Gismonti.
Frozen (Stereo MCs Remix)  performed by Madonna  1998
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

A beautiful original, mixed with a great hip-hop bassbeat. This was Madonna's first album after her admittedly excellent performance in the film, 'Evita'. In preparing for the film, she had actually taken professional voice instruction where she learned to project her voice and put less strain on her vocal chords. The transformation was amazing and she has sounded so much better since. She was also on a spiritual journey as she began her role as a mother and the lyrics bespeak this journey in her use of very emotional words and the warm sound in her voice. This is not, 'like a virgin', this is a woman reborn!

from Frozen CD Single (Maverick / Warner Bros 43993-2)


Fullness of Wind  performed by Brian Eno  1975
Recommended by Genza [profile]

Discreet Music is quite a lengthy CD. The actual piece Discreet Music is over half an hour long and evokes Eno's wonderful Music for Airports.

Also included are three related pieces and this, Fullness of Wind, is the first of three variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel. It's the best of the three - and well worth a bang.

Eno fragments, overlays and slows different parts of the original score to create a beautiful ambient work. Kinda Steve Reich meets Godspeed you Black Emperor (without the guitars).

from Discreet Music (EG Records EEGCD 23)


Ganymede  performed by Pierre Porte  1975
Recommended by whoops [profile]

Incredible piece of music recorded in the mid seventies by Pierre Porte.
Named after the fourth moon of Jupiter, Ganymede (and its twin "Femmes plantes", also included in this budget MFP release) can be describe as more or less similar in instrumentation and mood to Alain Goraguer's "La plan�te sauvage" o.s.t. Eery wordless female vocals, fuzz guitars, strings section...Strikingly beautiful, no less.

from Bon dimanche, musique and music... (Music For Pleasure)


Genius Next Door  performed by Regina Spektor  2009
Recommended by Mike [profile]

It's all very beautiful, but the power is particularly in the chorus and the instrumental break which follows it. I am pretty sure that Regina has heard a piece of music which I know and like, such is the strong sense of familiarity I get when I hear this short instrumental part...I mean it sounds like something I particularly like and already know. I can't place the piece at the moment, but will amend when I do...it might be something from a jazz/classical crossover albums.

Jeff Lynne does a fantastic job with the production...the sound is spectacular.

from Far, available on CD


Ghosts  performed by Logh  2002
Recommended by crimethInc [profile]

The soundtrack to my life.
With standard rock setup, bass, drums and guitar as well as an additional pedal steel ogh makes truly beautiful music. Don�t be fooled by the pedal steel...this is far from all the Wilco wannabes. Logh creates feelings.

from Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings, available on CD


girl anachronism  performed by the dresden dolls
Recommended by licoricewhipped [profile]

this song is so powerful, it hits you like a ton of bricks. its so frenzied and beautiful. i listened to it like, 5000x in one day.




Gobbledigook  performed by Sigur Ros
Recommended by aslyter [profile]

Beautifully arranged Icelandic music.

from Me� su� � eyrum vi� spilum endalaust, available on CD


Goin' Home  performed by Ike Quebec  1962
Recommended by tinks [profile]

Beautiful samba, with great mellow sax playing from one of the masters of the Coleman Hawkins-influenced tenor on his final album. The counterpoint of Kenny Burrell's guitar and Garvin Masseaux's gentle percussion with Quebec's long warm tones really make this track.

from Soul Samba, available on CD



Golden Brown  performed by The Stranglers  198?
Recommended by jcb3 [profile]

We got (still get) very little British music here in the States, even the top of the pops - I'm continually discovering great stuff that is decades old...

One of my all time faves is this Strangler's tune - beautiful imagery, some etherial background vocals, altogether a wonderful "mellow" tune from a band best known over here for punk.





  n-jeff: Lovely, surprisingly, considering what boorish herberts the stranglers could be. Nice video too, 20's Cairo chic, grubby whie suits, rubber plants, faded sepia hotel splendour. I've always wanted that sort of white suit, maybe it was watching Casablanca at an early age.
  audioadventures: I was into the band before they broke as they were based in our town. Golden Brown is from La Folie album (1982).
Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now  performed by Trini Lopez
Recommended by snafkin [profile]

Not too keen on his songs about DIY but this is a beautiful, light, summers day kind of song.




Good Night Sweet Night  performed by Jason Falkner  1999
Recommended by tinks [profile]

A beautiful Brian Wilson-type ballad. "Though I try to understand you/I don't know who you are/because I haven't heard a thing about the boy." Falkner sings lovely multi-tracked harmonies with himself on this, and it's just another reason that I love his solo work a lot more than I ever liked Jellyfish.

from Can You Still Feel?, available on CD



Goodnight Moon  performed by Go Radio
Recommended by themiddletoe [profile]

this is literally like my favorite song ever. i could listen to it a million times and it would never get old. and the lyrics are soooo incredibly sweet :)




Gorecki  performed by Lamb  1997
Recommended by catch_her [profile]

"if i should die this very moment, i wouldn't fear, for i've never known completeness, like being here ..."

achingly beautiful trip-hop

from Lamb (Polygram Records)


Green Eyes  performed by Coldplay  2002
Recommended by xfanatic50 [profile]

This song is great. It's delicate, and flowing and just beautiful. Chris Martin's voice is so great and perfect on this track. Coldplay at it's best.

from A Rush of Blood to the Head (Capitol)



green grass of tunnel  performed by mum
Recommended by licoricewhipped [profile]

eerie & beautiful.




Guess Who I Saw Today?  performed by Eartha Kitt  1975
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

The fabulous Ms. Kitt pours out her heart on this track in a way not usually heard in her songs. She puts away the diva and brings out the tender and emotional woman within as she sings of witnessing a budding romance between two people only to reveal at the end that one of them is her man whom she saw with another woman.

from For Always (Stanyan Records SR 10040)


Hail the word of Jah  performed by The Congos  1979
Recommended by james [profile]

Stunning late seventies reggae. maybe it's Blood and Fire's tasty design that makes the whole album feel like it was released for the first time yesterday, but I suspect it has more to do with the amazingly clean and timeless production. At any rate this song in particular brings me a feeling of great happiness and well-being.

Sublime lead and backing vocals with a bass line worthy of deep praise and adoration and lead guitar by the peerless Ernest Ranglin. A beautiful song.

from Congo Ashanti (Blood and Fire)



  pleasepleaseme: I don't own this record, but the album "Heart of the Congos" by the Congos from 1977 is a must have session! Some of the most uplifting Jamaican Soul.
  mattypenny: SLightly OT - their Row, Fisherman, from the Heart of the Congos was really good for getting our nipper off to sleep. A combination of the high voices, bass sounds and reggae rhythms, I guess. Cracking song in any case
  james: Am going to listen to Row, Fisherman Row - thanks for reminding me! must be something about falsetto reggae artists, our second boy was always mightily calmed by the Minstrel by Cornell Campbell - not really in the same league as the congos but check him out if you don't know him.
Hallelujah  performed by Rufus Wainright
Recommended by mcglynn3000 [profile]

This is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. The guitar riff is peaceful and hypnotizing, and the lyrics are amazing. Also it's in Shrek.




Hammer in the sand  performed by Steve Hackett  1980
Recommended by Mike [profile]

A beautiful piano-led instrumental, mainly gentle in mood, and an affecting vehicle for the distinctive harmononies and layered textures that characterise Steve's work.

from Defector, available on CD


Hammerhead’s apartment  performed by David Whitaker  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This is a beautiful bossa-tinged theme with a great blend of strings and brass. The flute/trombone melody is accompanied by an incredibly rich and airy string sound, which swells as the melody builds. The strings alone compel me to listen to this track repeatedly – their remarkably thick, drenched sound recalls some of my favorite Ennio Morricone pieces (particularly those on the fantastic ‘Mondo Morricone’ compilation). Musically, the entire ‘Hammerhead’ score seems to have been influenced by John Barry's Bond scores, and by the less goofy parts of Burt Bacharach's ‘Casino Royale’ score. As well as being a haunting movie theme, this track has elements of that classic loungey film score sound from the mid-sixties.

from Hammerhead OST (Colgems)




  nighteye: This song is excellent! Haven't seen the movie starring Peter Vaughan yet, but the bossa sound reminds me of the early John Barry pieces. I can't stop listening to it! Thank you Jonny!
Hard Times  performed by Eastmountainsouth
Recommended by CaitlinSpelledWrong [profile]

Hard Times comes from the Elizabethtown soundtrack, which is a great cd by the way. This song is beautiful, everyone in the world should hear. I'm not exagerating. "Let us pause in lifes pleasures and count it's many tears."


available on CD - Elizabethtown soundtrack


Harriet’s Got a Song  performed by Ben Kweller
Recommended by purrple [profile]

no one can resist the poppy sounds of the beautiful Ben Kweller.

This song opens with the great line: "I don't stand a chance in this fucked up world..."

from Sha Sha


Hate Everything About U  performed by Steve Lukather  1997
Recommended by lexicon [profile]

Not to be confused with that Ugly Kid Joe kindergarten rock song.

No, this is a rock/blues song, almost a ballad, with pretty good lyrics and a fabulous melancholic feel. It's catchy, and yet original in it's melody.

Steve Lukather (Toto, numerous sessions) is considered to be one of the best guitar players - ever, actually. This song, however, isn't just a display of guitar virtuosity (although that one solo in the middle of the song does give me shivers each time and again) - it's a display of how perfect and beautiful a simple song can be, and how it sounds if it's sung and played by someone breathing and living music.

from Luke


He was here but not for long  performed by Sally Dastey  1998
Recommended by phil [profile]

Ridiculously sentimental and melodramatic like a number of songs on this album, but as often rescued by the singing and in particular by Sally Dastey's voice - really, this woman is genuinely the best singer I have ever heard - a beautiful, plaintive Australian accent that deserves to be ranked with asrtud gilberto as one of the most distinctive voices in pop.

The music here on this song very simple - just a banjo, guitar, and mouth organ for backing, with Dastey singing 'he was here, but not for long/ I'll let you in on a little secret now/' before suddenly just speaking, with immense sadness - 'he wasn't the best worker we ever had'. Really fantastic folk music.

Sally Dastey was one of the Tiddas, who I have gone on about elsewhere on this site.

from Over In The West
available on CD - Over in the west


Heaven knows I’m miserable now  performed by The Smiths
Recommended by kkkerplunkkk [profile]

Witty, melancholic, catchy, beautiful... you won't find many bands as good as this.





  kohl: very true. i still love thing song in spite of its semi-whiney tone. or maybe *because* of it...
Heaven Up Here  performed by Echo & the Bunnymen  1981
Recommended by Fig Alert [profile]

I'm glad that I get the opportunity to be the first to recommend a Bunnymen track, especially since their early work, which I feel is far stronger than anything after "Porcupine," is unknown, primarily Stateside, to many.

"Heaven Up Here" is a car losing it's wheels at full speed while cornering on a high mountain pass. Will Sargeant's opening chick-chick-chicking on guitar gives way to a straight bassdrop, headlong into Pete DeFreitas' insistent pounding on drums, while Ian McColluch's yelps sound utterly desperate, claustrophobic, pleading and angry simultaneously. There's a pause in the careening during the bridge, just long enough for Ian to remind us that "We're all groovy, groovy people...we're okay, we're okay," before it all plunges straight down the cliffside, banging, exploding, scraping and finally, ending succinctly.

I don't ever recall hearing back then, and rarely today, such a beautifully cacophonic melding of swirling psychedelia and assaultive punk/pop. The guitars are cascades of shimmering shards of sound. Les Pattinson's coy, but effective bassline floats beneath the furious energy DeFreitas unleashes on his drumkit. "Mac the Mouth" may be the frontman, but I think this gem is DeFreitas' piece all the way.

After 20+ years of living with this album, and this song in particular, the pump, pump, pump of the bass drum still sends shivers up my spine. Don't overlook this album as a whole either!

from Heaven Up Here (Sire/Warner 3569-2)



Hell Yeah  performed by Ani DiFranco
Recommended by CaitlinSpelledWrong [profile]

This has to be one of my top bagillion faviorate songs, and I know a Bagillion is a lot but I love a lot of songs. The song is a little kiddy because it's about a crush, but we've all experienced crushes and the song has a beautiful harmony at the end.
"Because I like you, I know that you don't know it, I like you so much I talk to everyone but you, and I wonder what you'd think of this little number, yeah I wonder what you'd say if you knew."




Hey  performed by Julio Iglesisas  1982
Recommended by geezer [profile]

Ive only ever heard this sung in spanish and lyrically this beautiful piece of orchestrated balladry means nothing,However its hard not to be touched by the emotion of his frail almost thin voice .A friend of my wife heard this once and exclaimed "i dont know what the F--k he singing about but its so beautiful!!.As concise and accurate description if ever i heard one .

from Hey!, available on CD


Hiding  performed by Simon Warner  1997
Recommended by delicado [profile]

Simon Warner sings beautifully orchestrated and heartfelt songs with a mixture of 60s (e.g. Scott Walker) and modern pop (e.g. Julian Cope) sensibilities. Most people ignored his album when it came out in 1997. Apparently he recorded a second that even his record company ignored. I was lucky enough to see the great man a few times live in 1997. He's an incredible performer, with a slightly rough but very tuneful voice. The compositions, all his own, are also first-rate. This is my favorite track from the album, a melancholy pop tune with piano, guitar and bass, and later a full orchestra.

from Waiting Rooms, available on CD




  Eden Marmalade: Yes, Hiding is a superbly melancholy and well crafted song - also one of my favourites, though it depends what mood I'm in. Thankfully, Waiting Rooms has a song for almost any mood (including irritation at slobby flatmates; inappropriate lust; drunken joy et al). I can't actually think of another songwriter as talented as this guy - writing the lyrics and the music and bringing them together so cleverly. Makes ya sick!
  understudy constantine: It strikes me that the music world just isn't ready for someone as eccentric and talented as Simon Warner... who bothers with lyrics these days? Does anyone really appreciate a good witty tale, smattered with drama and an edgy charm? No. Does anyone long for real music, as opposed to a monotonous beat overlaid with a dull mantra? No. But this shouldn't stop the creation of brilliant songs. Simon, you're not the only one swimming against the tide. If you're happy doing it then that's all that matters. Oh, and it looks like you've picked up a few fans along the way - despite the lack of media support!
Hold On  performed by The Shore  2004
Recommended by spinner303 [profile]

Beautiful song, great vocals and back up.

from The Shore (Maverick)
available on CD - Yes (Maverick)


Holes  performed by Mercury Rev  1998
Recommended by delicado [profile]

An intense and beautiful epic, this track is the opener on the band's superb 1998 album, 'Deserters Songs'. I'm quite fickle, and usually prefer two to three-minute songs, but this track is so brilliant that it seems short at 6 minutes. It builds up beautifully, starting with just an echoey string aura, with vocals, synth (a Supertramp-like wurlitzer sound) and guitar coming in one by one. The music finally explodes after a couple of minutes, with full drums and eerie oscillating noises. It's incredibly beautiful and dense, and the song has a melancholy air that is very affecting. Mercury Rev have a habit of putting incredible tracks at the beginning of their albums. I'm glad they are now getting more of the attention they deserve.

from Deserter's Songs, available on CD


Honeytree  performed by The Wolfgang Press  1991
Recommended by robert[o] [profile]

A great track from a truly great LP that I fear might have slipped through the cracks in the floorboards in the decade or so since it's release. TWP's "Queer" remains the band masterpiece, an ungodly amalgam of Can, Talking Heads, Roxy Music, King Tubby and De La Soul. This song perfectly highlights the record's/band's strengths - Mark Cox's cut and paste/dub programming, Andrew Gray's blistering guitar, Mick Allen's brilliant "Tom Waits sings the Mark E. Smith Songbook" voice/words, aided by then Throwing Muses Leslie Langston's sexy bass/backgrounds vocals. The song is both seductive and sinister - the spoonful of sugar being the its' "The Fall Plays The Burt Bacharach Songbook" shambling groove that helps down the medicine that is Mick Allen's venomous lyrics in re: America's inaction/indifference in the face of the AIDS crisis. Rarely has subject matter so heavy, been dealt with in such light/deft manner. I recommend the whole "Queer" LP - particularly the British edition , which differs in tracklisting and uses of samples. (It is likewise available on the band's fine - if somewhat short - best of "Everything is Beautiful 1983-1995"

from Queer &/or Everything is Beautiful 1983-1995, available on CD



  konsu: I always liked these guys too. Queer did miss the mark in america for sure, although I think "Going South" got some airplay... I'm a big fan of the Birdwood Cage LP. A very underrated group from a very popular label.
Hotcha Girls  performed by Ugly Cassanova  2003
Recommended by Open Book [profile]

Ugly Cassanova made its mark in my soul with this track. Combining Isaac Brock's brilliant song writing with the painfully sweet voice of John Orth from Holopaw, this song sweeps in and out of beautiful melodies in such a way that leaves me absolutely awestruck. It's too bad they couldn't make the rest of their debut this good... the album itself has it's moments, but besides a few standout tracks, fails to completely fulfill my hopes for it's potential with such a star-studded line up. Nothing, however, will ever take away from the solid truth that this song is absolutely stunning, and as far as my opinions go, it's an instant classic.

from Sharpen Your Teeth, available on CD


Houses On The Hill  performed by Whiskeytown  1997
Recommended by LawrenceM [profile]

I don't know what it is about this song. "Strangers Almanac" is a brilliant - probably my all time favourite 'alt.country' record - but this song transcends even that superlative, to be one of my favourite songs of all time. It has mved me to tears twice now, and no doubt will again. Ryan Adam's bruise of a voice, the beautiful lyrics, the sad subject matter. Just perfect.

from Strangers Almanac, available on CD



How to open at will the most beautiful window  performed by Lalo Schifrin  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A beautiful, lush masterpiece with a bossa nova beat (hmm, is there a pattern to the songs I'm submitting?), 'how to open...' is one of my top tracks ever. It opens quietly with a slightly cheesy flute sound over a gentle guitar. A great wordless vocal then comes in coupled with strings. Superb. If you never listen to music like this, what I'm saying probably doesn't exactly make it sound cool. But it really is cool, very very cool indeed.

from There's a Whole Lalo Schifrin Goin' on (Dot)




  Sem Sinatra: A lot of Lalo Schifrin's music doesn't seem to adhere to a formula, and this is one of those ... I never get tired of hearing it
  Fox: This track is so quiet and peaceful. Lalo is a genious. We got in France, an electronic artist called Alex Gopher (I think he took his name from the soap opera "Love Boat", it's a sign!) that sampled the three first strings notes from that track. His album is called "You, my baby and I" but is more famous for the interpretation he made on "The child" based on a beautiful song from Billie Holliday "God bless the child". For those who want notice the fruits that have grown from the roots! Ennio Morricone made a concert recently in Paris, if Lalo could do the same soon...
how’ s it going to end  performed by tom waits  2004
Recommended by olli [profile]

one of my favourite tracks from the new album. it's one of his dark plucked string- ballads, quite a simple melody really, but the subtle brass and the mournful moaning of the background vocals makes truly beautiful. and then there's the lyrics..

"behind a smoke coloured curtain, a girl disappeared
they found out that the ring was a fake
a tree born crooked never grows straight
she sunk like a hammer into the lake"
stunning.

i am SO going to buy this album when it comes out, even though i've got the mp3's (sorry mr waits!). a part of me hoped that this album wasn't going to leak, so that i could get the whole package with the liner notes and all at once, but then again some things are just too good to wait for..

(hope they avoid the glossy plastic paper of the alice booklet this time. that was just plain wrong. didn't fit the subject matter at all..)

from real gone


Hug My Soul  performed by Saint Etienne  1994
Recommended by LawrenceM [profile]

A lovely, soulful, poppy dance song. I've never understood why a band like Saint Etienne aren't serious chart contenders. They make intelligent pop music, have great tunes, have a beautiful lead singer with an amazing voice. And yet "the kids" prefer manufactured acts like Kylie Minogue. (sigh). The Saints have released so many brilliant pop songs, but this is my favourite.

from Tiger Bay, available on CD


Hurry to Me  performed by Roy Budd  1969
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A superb recording of a really perfect song. Ennio Morricone's theme to the obscure movie 'metti, una cera a cena' (one night at dinner) is here performed in a classic crisp, clear version by Roy Budd. I'm not sure if I love this recording so much because it was the first version I heard, but I think it may even be better than the Morricone recording. Anyway, if you don't know this song, you will probably recognise it when you hear it. It features an infuriatingly catchy repetitive female wordless-vocal over a gentle bossa beat, with rich strings and piano. Every now and then everything goes quiet and all you hear are the vocals and a faint tremelo guitar. It is really amazingly beautiful. There is also a great italian version of this song by Milva, which sounds amazingly like the group Stereolab.

from Soldier Blue (Pye NSPL 18348)
available on CD - Sound Spectrum (Sequel)




  leonthedog: The Budd version is also available on "Rebirth of the Budd," for those (like myself) wanting an introduction to his work. The Sandpipers' version on "Canto Morricone Vol." is equally nice.
  DickieB: I just wanted to recommend ‘The Sound Spectrum’ which this is on. I’ve had a copy of years but have only just realised that it’s essential listening - if you like this sort of thing, probably drive you mad otherwise.
  delicado: Yes, it\'s a cracking compilation. It\'s so well done that if you listen to the tracks out of context (e.g. on the original LPs), they don\'t sound as thrilling as they do on this mix!
Hurt  performed by Johnny Cash
Recommended by eevas86 [profile]

Johnny Cash makes Nine Inch Nails' song Hurt his own. This song is one of my all time greatest. It's just so powerful, beautiful and sad.

"if i could start again
a million miles away
i would keep myself
i would find a way"




Hyper music  performed by Muse  2001
Recommended by gaia_15 [profile]

Brilliant track complete with soaring lyrics and beautiful base line. Brilliantly performed.


available on CD - Origin of symmetry



i am a camera  performed by Buggles  1982
Recommended by geezer [profile]

This is what the future sounded like in 1982,misguided technical prophecy and electronic keyboards,but underneath such dated cliche lies a beautiful watery melody ,the sort of tune you could dive into and wallow for ever.

This was Trevor Horn,s apprenticeship,a place he learnt to meld melody with beat and beauty before moving on to conquer the world,the album isnt that good but this tune will stay in your head long after you slip into sleep .

from Adventures in Modern Recording, available on CD


I hung my head  performed by Johnny Cash  2002
Recommended by andrew76 [profile]

This is a cover of a song by Sting. I haven't heard Sting's version but I am not a fan of what I have heard. Anyway, Cash's version is stripped down to the bare essentials, acoustic guitar and piano with a little bit of keyboard in the background to add some depth, but the music is secondary to the great mans voice. He's in his seventies, and all the age an experience in his voice just makes the youth and experience of the lyrics all the more poignant. His voice reminds me of my grandfather (May he rest in peace). The whole Album (American Recordings IV - The Man Comes Around) is incredible and this song is a stand out track among many, both original and covered.

from American Recordings IV The Man Comes Around, available on CD


I Remember  performed by Damien Rice
Recommended by jeni [profile]

This songs starts out so beautifuly mellow then turns into a screaming symphony. So powerful.

from O


I Say A Little Prayer  performed by Aretha Franklin  1968
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

Ms. Franklin tears into yet another great song and delivers a performance that is second to none! Poor Dionne Warwick's version doesn't stand a chance against the queen of soul!! Aretha sits at the piano and turns out a beautiful and emotional hymn to love. Hallelujah, sister soul!

from Now (Atlantic 8186)
available on CD - Aretha Franklin: Queen of Soul, the Atlantic Sessions (Box Set) (Atlantic R2 71063)



  Flippet: My favourite recording of Aretha's. An awesome song and an awesome recording!!
I Stand Accused  performed by Isaac Hayes  1970
Recommended by tinks [profile]

A breathtaking cover of the Jerry Butler classic, drawn out to 11 1/2 minutes of heartwrenching glory. A true masterpiece from Hayes' most brilliant period. Beautiful string arrangements by Dale Warren, and ghostly backing vocals make this something that you won't soon forget.

from The Isaac Hayes Movement, available on CD



I Think I’m In Love (live at The Royal Albert Hall)  performed by Spiritualized  1997
Recommended by MisterBenn [profile]

Quite simply one of the greatest live albums ever, and this is the pick of the bunch. A slow, beautiful melody explodes into a slide guitar driven landscape. Thrilling.

from Live at The Royal Albert Hall


I Think It’s Going To Rain Today  performed by Dusty Springfield  1968
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

The lady may have left the stage, but her spirit lives on in her recordings, and this is among her finest!! Sadly unreleased in the US for 28 years, this gloriously somber song was included in the 1995 anthology box set. Dusty sings with a sadness in her voice as she vocally paints a picture of a dreary day. While the overcast sky fails to crush her spirit, it does provide an opportunity for introspection and reflection. She is accompanied only by piano and orchestral strings which give this song a beautifully sad sound that make it perfect for playing on a rainy day.

from the Dusty Springfield Anthology, available on CD




  delicado: I must say, this is a quite brilliant recording; thanks for mentioning it! I heard the original Randy Newman version the other day, but to me, neither the arrangement or vocal performance were a patch on Dusty. Not that I'm biased or anything!
I Use Her  performed by Tony Kosinec  1971
Recommended by snafkin [profile]

A really beautiful acoustic song that I just can't get out of my head. The rhythm track consists of handclaps/taps or comething similar, it has a lovely, light guitar line and some beautiful piano. The gasp at the beginning is great too!

from Bad Girl Songs (Sony Japan)




  artlongjr: I have an LP of Tony's from 1969 called "Processes". Seeing your post jogged my memory on it...he sort of sounds like another of my favorite artists, Emmitt Rhodes.
I Want Wind To Blow  performed by The Microphones  2001
Recommended by kaptnunderpnts [profile]

i think this song is beautiful. it's subtle but moving. the structure and composition of the song is great. both instrumentally and vocally it has a very nice development. the song that follows (the glow, pt. 2) on the album is a very natural extension of i want wind to blow. at the same time it offers a first glimpse into the microphones' heavier songs.

from The Glow Pt. 2


I want your kiss  performed by Lani Groves (with Phil Moore and the Afro Latin Soultet)  1967
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This one has really been haunting me. I recently heard this rare and sought after album, and was entranced by the opening track, a devastating vocal. Although Lani Groves sings in English, in a style very similar to Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, I knew that this was a Brazilian track that I had heard before.

Researching a song with as generic a title as 'I want your kiss' is hard though, and with no knowledge of who the composer was, most of the search engine results were soft porn stories. After a while I threw on Elis Regina's first album, Samba - eu canto assim, and happily found the information I was looking for. The original Portuguese song is called 'Sou sem paz', and was written by Adylson Godoy, who may or may not be the same person as Amilton Godoy, who was the pianist in the Zimbo Trio.

After all my research, I was disappointed to learn that this song has hardly ever been recorded; the only versions I know of are this and those by the Zimbo Trio and Elis Regina.

Trivia aside, this is a nice fusion of several of my musical passions. The chord sequence is unusual, delicate and surprising, and the vocal is passionate. I think it would be fair to say that Lani Groves doesn't have quite Elis's passionate delivery, but for me this is offset by the beautiful backing arrangement, featuring some great organ playing.

from Afro Brazil Oba! (Tower)



I Will Get On  performed by Annie  2002
Recommended by SleazyListening [profile]

You may remember Annie from her/their housey dancefloor number of a year or two back "The Greatest Hit".

Well, they've come back with this, a sublime downbeat track with a lush-yet-delicate female vocal. Instrumentally, it reminds me of a slower, swinging P-funk number, quite minimal beats but funky as all hell (in a chill kinda way).

Absolutely beautiful -hard to find but worth looking.

Originally a limited-release 7" on Norwegian label Telle, and quickly licensed by UK house label Loaded -it appears on a sampler they released late 2002.


available on CD - (vinyl) (Loaded)


I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine  performed by Beth Orton  1996
Recommended by BlueGirl [profile]

This is a beautiful cover of the song by the Ronettes, sung ever so sweetly by Beth Orton. She is accompanied by an acoustic guitar. It's very simple and beautiful. The song mourns a lost love, a feeling with which I think we can all identify. "I wish I never saw the sunshine...because then maybe...I wouldn't mind the rain"

from Trailer Park (Heavenly/Dedicated 61702440072; HVNLP17CD)




  tinks: oh, i love this song! i love the whole album, in fact.
If I Should Lose You  performed by Aretha Franklin  1964
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

This magnificent track is from the oft-ignored years Aretha spent at Columbia Records. Most of her material for the label consisted of religious songs and jazz standards and she truly shines here. She sings with a sense of urgency and a slight cry in her voice as she pleads with her love not to abandon her. As much as I love her Atlantic catalogue, this song and the album it comes from are at the top of my Aretha Franklin list.

from Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington, available on CD


If You Don’t Miss Me  performed by Gone Til November / Aimee Proal  2007
Recommended by BloodyRachelB [profile]

this band broke up (I believe) but their singer/songstress Aimee Proal is busy writing tracks for those LESS TALENTED than her! (*it makes me sad because she has a beautiful voice) Anyway, she also did a song called "Save You" which was ruined by Kelly Clarkson the O.G. song is here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL75QGxPN-I&feature=related)

from N/A


If You Go Away  performed by Dusty Springfield  1967
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

Dusty's intimate reading of this song is pin point perfect (no surprise!). Starting out in low quiet tones, the song crescendos as she promises anything to make her love stay with her for just a few minutes more. Heartbreakingly beautiful!!

from The Look Of Love (Philips PHS 600 256)
available on CD - The Dusty Springfield Anthology (Box Set) (Mercury 314 553 501)


Il n’y a pas d’amour Heureux  performed by Francoise Hardy
Recommended by Davidthesaint [profile]

George Brassens wrote this one and his version of it is equally good... But he performs it alone with his acoustic guitar... Hardy is helped by a violin and an accordion which make her version extremely enjoyable and so so so beautiful...




Iluminados  performed by Eliane Elias  1993
Recommended by Mike [profile]

Very, very pretty music. A vocal duet between the song's composer and the wonderful Ms Elias, possessor of beautiful, slightly husky voice and superb pianistic skills.

Her trio here includes Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJonette, both once of Bill Evans's trio. There are a few delicate touches of synth which compliment the mood, used like a string orchestra.

from Paulistana


Imagine  performed by John Lennon  1971
Recommended by bunwhisper [profile]

The most beautiful song ever written. John's signature song.

from Imagine (Apple Records)
available on CD - Shaved Fish (Capitol)


In the Aeroplane Over the Sea  performed by Neutral Milk Hotel  1997
Recommended by two-headed boy [profile]

I didn't know it then, but when I purchased the album 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' my world changed. When I put the album into my CD player, I did it with a naivete of someone who thought they'd 'heard it all.' I did it clumsily, with haste, handled like a Beatles or Beach Boys album, the way I had done for years. When I listened to the album I did it with reckless abandon while driving 38 miles per hour on my lunch break, and later in the drive-through at McDonald�s. These mistakes were inherited, and I refuse blame. They were passed through the genetic make-up of our peers and born out of the music we've been given; I didn't expect this! Well, our music has changed, and it did so without our knowing and our approval. This album proved and disproved an entire treatise of critical analysis on a generation of music that I thought I had known, and it did so with a fucking velvet sledgehammer.

The lyrics: "And one day we will die and our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea, but for now we are young let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see." More lyrics: "What a beautiful face I have found in this place that is circling all around the sun, what a beautiful dream that would flash in the screen in a blink of an eye and be gone from me." The melody: A timeless, haunting thing that was metaphysically resurrected from a wiser place. The voice: Wrenched out of the jaws of a holocaust from 50 years ago, we hear a possessed Jeff Mangum invest his soul. The sound: An apocalypse that can reinvent the turntable by it�s simplistic form; with a saw, guitar, drum, bass, horns, and lord knows what else all handled with deceptive elegance of a garage mechanic constructing a supermodel. And, lastly, the spirit: A tragedy and rape of virginity known only to the persecuted and executed; the ghost of Anne Frank materializes long enough to show us her world, and in her hands we are strangely at peace.

This song is a gift very few will experience. It is endless in its reach and should be accepted like a sibling into your collection. It will one day prove itself beyond category, but for now it is a masterful novel from the hands of a mysterious songwriter who should know how sincerely I cherish his songs.

from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea



  karlmort: this album is going to make a huge impact on you if you dare to listen.
  evolutum: All I have to say is that I agree with the above. My wife and I had this song played at our wedding reception. With tears in our eyes we danced. I would like to have it played at my funeral.
  umbrellasfollowrain: Whenever I hear that someone loves this album as much as I do this strange things happens where I want to draw you all into a bearhug where we cry our fears away all through the long night.
  el.oh man.: this song can make you feel so many emotions at once. it truly is a wrok of art. there is almost no way that you wouldnt like it. everytime i hear it, i fall in love with the amazing writing talents of these guys.
  pullmyhair: This is one of my most life-changing albums. It does something to me, almost spiritually. If people have an open mind, they need to hear this.
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea  performed by Neutral Milk Hotel  1998
Recommended by pullmyhair [profile]

The song is wistful, whimisical, magical, beautiful, introspective, and youthful.


available on CD - In the Aeroplane over the Sea (Merge)



  n-jeff: Wow, how many times has this song been entered on here, now! http://www.psychedelicado.com/filter.php?performer=Neutral%20Milk%20Hotel Lots, thats how many. It must be a great song. Even if The capitalisation may Be a bit Tricky. ;�)
In The Garden  performed by Triste Janero
Recommended by mr_klenster [profile]

This whole album is really spectacular. My other favorites are "Today It's You" and "Rene De Marie". All capture this beautiful blend of psychy-pop, bossa rhythm, and folky soul. Great blends of patterns, instrumentation, and vocals, I really love this stuff.

from Meet Triste Janero


India  performed by The Psychedelic Furs  1980
Recommended by dsalmones [profile]

The leadoff track of the Psychedelic Furs' 1980 self-titled debut LP takes the lead of Brian Eno's influential work with David Bowie and his own Roxy Music and merges it with the energy, attitude, and bombast of punk rock. After a stark and sublimely beautiful synthesizer-soundscape introduction, Vince Ely's drums abruptly pound in with echoing tom toms. The rest of the band launches into a one- or two-chord assault that gives little indication of the poppier direction the group would take on later records. But the power demonstrated here on "India" remained as an undercurrent of almost all of the band's later work, even if only implied at times. And if one listens closely, there is even a bit of melody amidst the Fall-like (and by extension, Stooges and Can-like) rhythmic pummeling. Producer Steve Lillywhite was already enjoying an early peak in his recording career with this album and U2's 1980 debut, Boy, forging a sound that bridged late-'70s punk with 1980s shine and texture.
(AMG)

from The Psychedelic Furs, available on CD


Indian Ocean  performed by Field Mice  1990
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A beautiful guitar pop track, with superbly recorded 12 string and electric guitars, and an immaculately serious, yet shy vocal. Hearing it now, I'm amazed at how well this track has aged. To me, the beauty of the song lies more in the intricacy of its guitar parts than any musical or lyrical innovation. The guitar playing recalls the best indie guitar music of the 80s, particularly Johnny Marr. I remember seeing the band not long after this record came out. The guitarist seemed very shy, and faced the side of the stage, staring into his Rickenbacker. To cap all of this brilliance, this song features a superb fake ending, after which the instrumental refrain comes back in for a final few glorious moments.

from So Said Kay (Sarah Records SARAH 38)
available on CD - Where'd You Learn To Kiss That Way? (Shinkansen Recordings)




  farawayfriend: The field mice are one of the great unknown pop bands... a truly gorgeous song by an amazing artist.
Inside a Dream  performed by Jane Wiedlin  1988
Recommended by Genza [profile]

I never liked the Go-Gos. And I think Belinda Carlise's music is naff. But Jane Wiedlin has a certain something.

I remember first seeing the video to 'Rush Hour' on UK TV as a teenager. I thought that song was bloody great. My parents bought me her debut album 'Fur' for Christmas and we used to listen to it in the car. Listening to this always brings the memories flooding back.

Some of 'Fur' is a bit dodgy - but I can forgive Wiedlin. The high points still seem very high today. And 'Inside a Dream' is a beautifully crafted, Stephen Hague produced pop song. This three minute stunner moves and warps around a simple spine. Dubstar sounded a lot like this half a decade later.

from Fur (EMI CDP-7-48683-2)



  Mike: I too was bowled over by the catchiness of "Rush Hour" and also ended up acquiring the album "Fur" at the time. It wasn't her first album, but I don't think she'd previously had any solo exposure in the UK. About half the songs are simple but undoubtably effective, but several others I have always found to be very ineffective! I agree that Dubstar (who I also liked) sounded a bit like this at times - Stephen Hague's production style is quite distinctive. Did any of the members of Dubstar release anything since the band split up?
Into My Arms  performed by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Recommended by marisofparis [profile]

A beautiful love song complete with angels and god's love... for people who normally don't go for that kind of shit.

from The Boatman's Call


into the clouds  performed by sound of arrows
Recommended by carm [profile]

beautiful and vivid. compelling with swells and drops in volume.




Is this the life  performed by Cardiacs  1988
Recommended by Rena Blue [profile]

Cardiacs have been described as: fairground music; punk rock; prog rock; beautiful; frightening; deadly serious; total euphoria; ugly; sexy; avant-garde; pop genius; totally genuine; disturbing; uplifting... All I can say is this song has one of the maddest guitar solos I have ever heard!

from A little man and a house, available on CD




  n-jeff: God I hate the Cardiacs. I'm so Wacky. I'm so Zany. Wacky! Zany! Wacky! Zany! Wacky! Wacky! Zany! Zany! Thats all I have to say.
  dragonsulk: What rubbish, you havent paid attention at all. So much of it is about fear, pain, courage, the humour is gritted teeth in the face of sadness. Bit too subtle for you, eh? Too much like real life?
  n-jeff: I had the misfortune to have to spend an hour paying attention, christ, 20 years ago. That was quite enough, thank you. Subtle? No. Real life? Maybe they appraoched the real life feelings of my 4 year old on a chemical high after too much squash and her toys taken away. Maybe they've evolved. I hope so, but I'll bear a grudge for that gig.
  jack kane: the nme orthodoxy would have it that the cardiacs are somehow putting on an act. far from it - the reason their music is so powerful is that it's dredged up from the fearful chaos that lurks just beneath our feeble psyches. cardiacs haters fear this chaos, and their fear is projected as resentment, leaving them unable to access the music of britain's greatest band.
Isobel  performed by Björk  1995
Recommended by eevas86 [profile]

beautiful song. beautiful voice. loving it.

from Post



  delicado: It's a great track. How about those Deodato string arrangements as well!
It’s A Desperate Situation  performed by Marvin Gaye  1969
Recommended by snafkin [profile]

A beautiful song. Marvin's voice is raw, pleeding emotion, the strings, the drums, the everything!
This song should be known to all. I challenge anyone who loves music not to feel moved listening to this!

from Motown Lost And Found(?)


it’s a thin line (between love and hate)  performed by annie lennox
Recommended by complacentbasement [profile]

i'm not sure if this is a cover, (most of the songs off her album 'medusa" are) but it is the most amazingly beautiful song... it's smooth, sultry, and you can definately get your business going on to it...





  konsu: It is a cover. Originally by The Persuaders, an R&B group that are still kickin' today! They charted this one I believe in 71'. Also covered by The Prentenders in the 80's... You should seek out the original, because the context of the words changes to a male perspective, which, to me, makes it one of the coolest songs ever.
  FlyingDutchman1971: The original is great, but I'm partial to The Pretenders cover version. Chrissie Hynde sang this song the best(imho)
Italian Ground  performed by Glenn Gould
Recommended by dothat [profile]

Beautiful renaissance music played on the piano by one of the best performers ever.


available on CD - Consort of Musicke by William Byrd & Orlando Gibbons


I�m Bound to Pack it Up  performed by The White Stripes  2001
Recommended by xfanatic50 [profile]

A beautiful but simple guitar ballad, with Jack White foregoing his usual vocal theatrics and screeching. This song utilized really beautiful viola, one of the only times the band ever used outside instruments for a song. The most polished, elegant and beautiful of any of the White Stripes' songs.

from De Stijl



I�m The Man Who Loves You  performed by Wilco  2002
Recommended by xfanatic50 [profile]

The brief respite from all of the wild experimentation on the rest of the album, this track is Wilco gettting back to their country roots, while still exploring country's boundaries. Fun and joyful, filled with some rocking electric guitar not found on the rest of the album, this song is an much needed uptempo break on an album full of beautiful introspective ballads and acoustic sing-alongs.

from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Sundazed)


Joanne  performed by Michael Nesmith & the First National Band  1970
Recommended by artlongjr [profile]

This is one of the songs that first got me started as a music fan when I heard it back in the summer of 1970 in Yosemite Park. I still like it just as much today...I am a huge Michael Nesmith fan, and this is my favorite song by him. Beautiful pastoral-sounding lyrics and Mike's delightful falsetto at the end of each verse make this song a wonderful gem of a ballad. Also key to the beauty of this track is the pedal steel playing of the great Red Rhodes, who was
involved in all of Mike's early 70's albums.

from Magnetic South (RCA)


Jos aiot niin sano  performed by Liekki  2000
Recommended by tempted [profile]

A beautiful, progressive pop song from the best album I've ever heard. This is something completely different. A lush arrangement with flutes and ravishing J. Marr -like guitars. The melody and chords in the chorus give me goosebumps. The talent and musicianship are simply stunning. This is almost as good a pick as any song from this, Liekki's first album. They come from Finland.

from Magio (Hawaii Sounds)
available on CD - See above!



Just for a moment  performed by Aqualung  2002
Recommended by Mike [profile]

Beautiful and intense song, musically and lyrically. The breathy and sometimes nasal vocal sound won't suit everyone, but the melody itself is of undoubted beauty, and the arpeggiated piano backing (shades of Bach and Chopin at times) contains a good dose of this writer's usual harmonic subtlety.

from Aqualung, available on CD


Just Like the Movies  performed by Regina Spektor
Recommended by brandyalexander [profile]

I'm already a huge fan of Regina, but for me this is her absolute BEST. Good luck finding it because I'm pretty positive it's not on any of her cd's, but it's a very beautiful song that you can hear her sing live on youtube. It's so weary but very beautiful all at the same time. However I feel like it's the simple, yet honest lyrics that blow me away. "Don't say goodbye like you're burrying him. Cause the world is round and he might return."




Just Melancholy  performed by Roy Montgomery  1994
Recommended by LawrenceM [profile]

A beautiful, melodic ode to sadness, from reclusive New Zealand guitar genius Roy Montgomery. (His first band, The Pin Group, released the first ever single on the now-legendary Flying Nun Records.) Lyrically and melodicly, this song would fit neatly into the canon of either Joy Division or The Smiths, although Monthgomery's beautiful guitar playing owes more to Tom Verlaine than Johnny Marr. Probably the best sad song ever written by a New Zealander .... maybe anyone.

from 324 E. 13th Street #7, available on CD


Just What I’ve Been Looking For  performed by The Vogues  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

Genius late 60s pop with vocal harmonies. This was composed by Roger Nichols, and has some beautiful chord changes and Bacharach-meets-Brian-Wilson interludes.

The verse is sombre and in a minor key, but when they sing 'close to me' to usher in the chorus, the sun comes out! There's some scat singing in the interludes. I had previously only really known the Vogues for '5 o'clock world', but this is superb - an unusual and memorable track.

from Greatest Hits, available on CD



King of the Carrot Flowers Prt. 1,2 & 3.  performed by Neutral Milk Hotel  1997
Recommended by two-headed boy [profile]

A perfect segue into a perfect album, King of the Carrot Flowers is a masterpiece. This is the way songs should be written, performed, and produced. Jeff Mangum strums the catchiest 3 chords on his acoustic guitar while his piercing vocals spill lyrics of psychedelic sophistication. I can still remember the first time I heard him sing the lyric - 'and your mom would drink until she was no longer speaking, and dad would dream of all the different ways to die, each one a little more than he would dare to try' - in a rising climax. The energy and power is then sustained into a C drone from an organ, followed by an amped acoustic guitar being plucked clumsily. And like a street preacher we again hear Jeff, he belts 'I love you Jesus Christ' while the rest of the band hit fuzzed-out power chords F and C until a storm swells with cymbals, horn, bass, guitar, Jeff's voice and another rising movement to yet another climax. Propelled by an electric frequency that chops like a helicopter blade inches over-head we are lead into Part 3, often referred to as 'Up and Over'. This last part explodes into fuzz rock in all it's garage-roots glory with lyrics like - 'I will shout until they know what I mean, I mean the marriage of a dead dog sing, in a synthetic flying machine'. As the fuzz is sustained heavily the song ends with 1 last climax; the one-note piano brings us to a close.

King of the Carrot Flowers Part 1 introduces the theme of 'loss of innocence'. The narrator, addressing his lover nostalgically, compares the emotional deterioration of the older parents with the emotional and sexual discovery of their youth - 'your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder, and dad would throw the garbage all across the floor, as we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for.' This motive returns later in the album, as does his 'Jesus Christ' theme. Jeff Mangum alerts the listener in his lyric sheet that he believes what he sings, and that this 'Christ' theme is but the spiritual light he finds within everything. The album further treats themes like the Holocaust, death of loved ones, visions of ghosts, and all the horrors of man with this light. It is a beautiful and terrifying experience unlike any rock record to date. Personally, my favorite song of all time.

from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Elephant 6)


Kinky Love  performed by Nancy Sinatra  1976
Recommended by delicado [profile]

A highly enjoyable song on many levels. Firstly, the words are ridiculous. 'Don't you know I understand you're a man, and you've got to have your kinky love' is pretty funny, but that's nothing compared to 'baby take me inside, and let the honey slide'. Musically, it's really rather charming as well, opening with just Nancy's voice and a cool watery guitar sound, building beautifully with some great strings. Even though I find myself laughing at the lyrics, she sounds very vulnerable and serious; her voice seems to break at certain points. All in all, this is really every bit as enjoyable as her superb 60s material.

from the single Kinky Love
available on CD - Sheet Music




  tempted: The British art pop group The Pale Saints recorded a terrific version of Kinky Love around 1990. Beautiful homage to this exceptional song!
  delicado: yeah, I'm a huge fan of the pale saints, and I actually heard their version first. I think a few of their songs are truly incredible; I'll have to recommend some here soon.
  bobbyspacetroup: Wow. This is a cool track. I played it for my girlfriend, and the lyrics really cracked her up. Anyone know who produced or arranged this track? I'd definitely be interested in other material along these lines, Nancy Sinatra or otherwise.
  joakimbo: !!! im desperate to get hold of the pale saints version of kinky love but cant find it anywhere!! can anyone help? i may have to call my boyfriend of 10 years ago to ask for a copy of his, tho i think his now wife may not approve!
  delicado: A belated response for bobbyspacetroup: the track was from a single, produced by Snuff Garrett and arranged by Al Capps. Yes, let's find some more stuff with this sound!
  Johnny Wonny: To Joakimbo .... hey Stupid ... why don't you do what I did about 14 years ago when I first heard Kinky Love by the Palesaints ... go to your Record Store and ORDER the 4 song EP ... duhhhh ... pretend there's no Kaaza and support this fabulous band that has disbanded .... Spend some MONEY for a change.
  Johnny Wonny: Delicado ... Kinky Love was originally written by Dave Ellington, for Nancy Sinatra. Once again "Bimbo" .. borrow some cash and order this EP ... you'll be glad you did. KL was the first song I heard by the palesaints, and now have everything they published. They disbanded in the late Nineties.
  Johnny Wonny: To all ... the palesaints was one of the most creative 90's British Alternative bands to ever exist, along with My Bloody Valentine, The Cocteau Twins etc etc ....
  Johnny Wonny: Just one more thing, Delicado .. you say these lyrics are "stupid" .. sung by Nancy S yes .. the palesaints version, with the gorgeous and subtle guitarwork of Graeme Nesmith, along with Mariel Barham's sultry and
  Johnny Wonny: dark voice make up the whole recipe to make this song work ... a woman and a man are in love ... they have a perhaps twisted but beautiful sexual relationship as well ... it's a love song .. NS's version is eww.
  delicado: to my namesake mr. wonny: I'm a huge fan of pale saints; bought the 12" on the day it came out. Also rather like the Nancy version; let's live and let live, eh!
  Johnny Wonny: Well .. hello ... here's some dumb Johnny/Palesaints trivia .. the first cd I ordered lasted about 2 weeks ... I was drunk, and a few cds were on the floor by my bed .. I thought one was the ashtray and ruined it. Ordered another the nest day. First heard it on CJSW (University FM).
  Johnny Wonny: By the way Kimbo, if you ever come back here, I found a site where you can order Flesh Balloon, along with anything else they did ... http://www.gemm.com/q.cgi?rb=ANDYBURNETT&wild=Pale+Saints
  Johnny Wonny: Course you can try Ebay .... I may have spoken in haste ... perhaps these cds are no longer in print ... I bought them all up till about 1994 or 5 ... since then the band has died ...
L’anthracite  performed by Serge Gainsbourg  1959
Recommended by whoops [profile]

Early Serge Gainsbourg masterpiece with an "exotica" feel. The backing track is a far-east melody while the lyrics are simply beautiful. Gainsbourg used the characteristics of the anthracite to describe his feelings about a girl. It's a kind of first step into what was to be the apex of his first period, the "Gainsbourg percussions" LP of 1964.

from N�2 (Philips)
available on CD - Couleur caf� (Mercury/Philips)



  whoops: sorry, in place of "far east" please read "middle east" in the recommendation above.
La Foresta Incantata  performed by Piero Umiliani  1970
Recommended by delicado [profile]

Although I'm very interested in the batch of cool Italian soundtracks from the 60s and 70s which have recently been reissued, I often feel pretty overwhelmed by the volume of stuff out there. So I was pleased to find a used copy of Piero Umiliani's 'Angeli Bianchi...Angeli Neri'. It really is an intoxicatingly brilliant record, and this track is one of the highlights. The musical setting moves around a lot over four minutes - the opening sounds almost like fairy tale music; this then fades out, and some spooky and very cool sounding wordless vocals come in, accompanied by a slick, hip easy listening-style sequence with strings, bass and drums. As this builds, the wordless vocals continue, backed by increasingly beautiful and unexpected chord changes. I'm not doing a great job of describing this record, but happily in this case you can hear the whole song (streamed, real audio) at the excellent 'atrecordings.com' site. Anyway, it's a wonderful track, up there with my absolute favorite soundtrack pieces.

from Angeli Bianchi...Angeli Neri, available on CD




  bobbyspacetroup: Magical track. It's can also be found on Easy Tempo, Vol. 9. Too bad atrecordings has shut down.
  leonthedog: Magical indeed! Morricone, Piccioni, Umiliani, and Trovaioli are like Sirens... I am sure there are others - God grant me the time and good fortune to find them!
La Grippe  performed by Jacques Higelin avec Brigitte Fontaine  1967
Recommended by mr_klenster [profile]

Simply beautiful music. Fontaine and Higelin take turns singing verses, accompanied by a jazz band that delivers spare, but beautifully affecting melodic touches. The chemistry of the two voices is great, and everytime I hear this song, I can't wait to hear the next reply in the flow of their odd, sad conversation about influenza, love, and death. "Ma grippe vous va tr�s bien... La mort vous ira tr�s bien." (My flu suits you very well... death will suit you very well.)

from 20 Chansons Avant le D�luge


La Lucertola  performed by Ennio Morricone  1970
Recommended by delicado [profile]

This is an extremely atmospheric soundtrack piece, with a wordless vocal melody from Edda Del Orso. Strings, electric harpsichord and some subtle electronic effects set the scene. There are also some beautiful Bacharach-style twists with brass. Overall it's a deadly serious and delicate number, incredibly intense, while still sounding very 'cool' (whatever that means...).

from La Lucertola (Soundtrack)
available on CD - Mondo Morricone (Coliseum)




  eftimihn: Perfect description, delicado. This track is firmly in my Morricone Top 10, though it would be impossible for me to actually write down a top 10, maybe top 20, no, a top 50 would be possible...maybe...damn, one man - so many terrific tunes!
  dominb: I got the first Mondo Morricone cd on its original release nearly 10 years ago now,I was familiar with Morricone's stuff but when I heard this it totally changed me.I became a Morricone devotee and this first track along with "Metti..." blew me away.The version on Mondo is actually about a minute shorter than the original version,so is "Metti" and some of the other "Mondo" tracks,they've abridged them no doubt to fit the cd...I found this out gradually from hearing the complete versions,they're not different versions,they've just been cut down....This is one of Ennio's all time great themes.
La Princesa y El Soldado  performed by Carlos Vives  2004
Recommended by Betto_Colombia [profile]

What can I say. You are not going to find a colombian who doesn't like Vives. He just took folk vallenato music and made it rock!! This tropical sounds of thumbs, pipes and acordion mixed with some rock are brilliant. This is really "The Rock of My Town". Ay hombeeeeeeee!! From Vives I would reccomend every single song, but this one is very special cause he dedicated it to his daughter and son. The lyrics is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.

P.S. Now a little of General Culture: It's Colombia, not Columbia!!


available on CD - El Rock de Mi Pueblo


Late Again  performed by Judie Tzuke  1982
Recommended by Mike [profile]

A beautifully clear female voice emerges out of a rich synth backing of subtle harmonies provided by Bob Noble. Judie Tzuke (best-known for "Stay with me till dawn" of 1979 which was a minor UK hit) recorded a number of excellent tracks over the years. A reviewer on Amazon describes her as the "fifth biggest selling British female singer between 1980 and 1985", but I'd almost forgotten about her until I stumbled across one of her albums on CD in a shop the other day, prompting a return to some of my LPs and tapes.
This particular track has long been a favourite of mine for its emotional depth, but for whatever reason it's been a long time since I heard it. It would have helped had I been able to buy it on CD - unfortunately it doesn't appear to be available on any current disc.

from Shoot the moon (Chrysalis)


Laura  performed by George Shearing  1959
Recommended by Mike [profile]

A really beautiful arrangement of this classic film number which I just found out was written in 1944, not the 1950s as I had always thought. Superb orchestral parts move in and out of the texture, through which a lot of harmonic interest not present in other versions is heard. Shearing's divine pianistic touch is shown at several key moments. I don't always like Shearing's recordings, but this one is special.

from White Satin (Capitol ST1334)
available on CD - The Best of George Shearing (Capitol)


Laura  performed by Julie London  1955
Recommended by delicado [profile]

'Laura' has long been my favorite standard. The tune is elegant and haunting, and completely devoid of some of the schmaltzy feel that plagues many popular standards.

Written as an instrumental for the 1944 film of the same name, this was composed as a piano-based number, and so Julie's version is perhaps not the most orthodox recording. However, it's incredibly powerful and atmospheric, and I *think* it's my favorite version.

The entire track lasts just 1 minute and 40 seconds. The first verse is sung as a solo voice without any accompaniment other than the spooky reverberation effect. When the music does come in, it's provided by a small jazz trio led by Barney Kessel. Kessel's delicate jazz chords and picking complement Julie's voice beautifully.

from Julie is her name, available on CD



Lay It On Me  performed by Heatwave  1976
Recommended by ambassador [profile]

Heatwave's first two albums can almost be seen as prototypes for Michael Jackson's breakthrough album "Off the Wall." With Rod Temperton, future Quincy Jones and MJ collaborator, driving this album the sound is both funky and catchy, sophisticated and accessible. "Lay It On Me" is an overlooked album track that bubbles and gurgles under the surface of the groove until the chorus arrives with strings soaring for the ectasy of Johnnie Wilder's sweet vocals, "lay it on me, lay your sweet love on me!" Beautifully arranged and excellently executed and just one of many classics of their debut album.

from Too Hot to Handle, available on CD


Let me take your life  performed by Final Boss  2006
Recommended by ref. [profile]

The song is mostly comprised of guitars, though it also features synths that provide timpanies, mallet sounds, and string sounds, as well as an electric bass guitar.

Its a really interesting arrangement and has quite a memorable main melody. The song ends with an interesting modulation (key change) that sustains the main them.

Its a beautiful rock instrumental song with a focus on arrangement, textures, and mood that you might see in a classical piece.

Reminds me of the Stone Roses without the psychedelic rock vibe.

from not released
available on CD - www.finalboss.net/songs


Let New Days Dawn  performed by A Cautionary Tale  2006
Recommended by aggryle [profile]

Beautiful composition and production with a darkly uplifting, somber mood and feel. Definitely will make you stop and focus on it as you are filled with melancholy feelings, though once the song ends, you feel better than when it began. Hard to find album, but you can listen to the song on myspace.com/acautionarytale.

from Let New Days Dawn, available on CD


Let There Be Love  performed by Oasis
Recommended by daniela_por [profile]

Beautiful Ballad. The combination of Noel and Liam's voices is amazing. By the way, this songs has truly great lyrics (as usual in Oasis' songs anyway).




Life In Mono  performed by Mono  1996
Recommended by FlyingDutchman1971 [profile]

The vocalization of a persistent daydream delivered with a truly ethereal sound. I find this song hauntingly beautiful. I was also lucky enough to come across a promotional-only CD single that features two great house mixes by Jonathan Peters although sadly, they are both edits that clock in around 4 minutes each.

from Formica Blues, available on CD



  delicado: Yes, a superb song. Simple, but beautiful. The tune reminds me of 'The Shadow of your smile'. The singer's voice echoes that of Claudine Longet nicely, and they appropriate some elements of classic film music in order to create a compelling backdrop. I have the US-issue CD single, which also includes 4 mixes and an instrumental version. None really match the elegance of the original though.
  yonderboy: This track got a lot of exposure as part of the "Great Expectations" soundtrack. The entire cd is quite good as well. Formica Blues was Mono's only full length effort, though there are several cd singles available. A wonderfully successful example of how trip-hip and jazz/lounge styles work well together. Reminds me of Love Spirals Downwards' recent cds Temporal and Flux. Mono's vocalis Siobhan de Mar moved on to do work with Cocteau Twins frontman Robin Guthrie. Their band, Violet Indiana is on Guthrie's Bella Union label.
  Mike: It's very appealing but I also find it almost comically artifical and that I tire of it very easily.
Life on Mars?  performed by Seu Jorge  2004
Recommended by stupidwall [profile]

A beautiful, soft version of the classic David song sung in Portueguese(sp?). It's only his voice and his guitar.

The song is from the movie 'Life Aquatic'. Wes ANderson asked Seu to translate 11 Bowie songs into Portueguese and perform them on the set.

Also has a personal thing to it for me.

from Life Aquatic- The Motion Picure Soundtrack



  olli: i picked up the soundtrack before i even saw the movie on this one.. great stuff, love the "incidental" feel and the one-take roughness of seu's recordings.
Lights In The Sky  performed by Nine Inch Nails  2008
Recommended by SamHall [profile]

You can't go wrong with NIN, and you certainly can't go wrong with NIN and a piano.

The soft piano element and Trent Reznor's voice make for a beautiful combination, underscoring a melancholy contemplation of self. The song, like much of the album, is a very reflective examination of Reznor in his older years. I think it's powerful stuff, especially when the song trails off into the rhythmless void of "Corona Radiata."

from The Slip, available on CD


Like A Summer Thursday  performed by Townes Van Zandt
Recommended by kkkerplunkkk [profile]

Beautiful sad country from the late great Townes. You can hear his depression filtering through his golden voice.




Listening to Otis Redding at Home During Christmas  performed by Okkervil River
Recommended by Reina [profile]

So nostalgic and beautiful. It completely captures the feeling of returning to home when it's not quite home anymore. Try it you'll love it I promise.

"On a cold afternoon you can float room to room like a ghost."




Little Bit  performed by Lykke Li
Recommended by tied.to.a.melody [profile]

This song has a very interesting sound using steal drums among other things to create a steady and bright beat. The artist's voice is beautiful and light, combinig perfectly with the song's meaning and the instrumental parts.




Look After You  performed by The Fray
Recommended by TheTromboneNinja [profile]

I love this song because it is so romantic, sweet, and perfect. There is Isaac Slade on vocals, along with back vocalist Joe King (<3). There's a piano, cello, and drumset. It's a beautiful song, happy and passionate, perfect to sing along to, Isaac has a great voice, and lyrics are beautiful.

from How to Save a Life (Epic)


look at your game girl  performed by charles manson  196x
Recommended by olli [profile]

checked it out for the novelty value, stayed with it because it's simply a beautiful song. wouldn't have guessed this insane bastard had something as good as this inside of him. reminds me a bit of a starker, less musically developed townes van zandt actually.




Look at Your Game Girl  performed by Charles Manson
Recommended by texjernigan [profile]

Need I say more? It's beautiful, rich and dark. He wrote and recorded some songs in prison, but this isn't one of those.





Look Away  performed by Eternity�s Children
Recommended by Mr. E [profile]

First of all let me say that I have been violently blindsided by this group! ...they very quickly entered my favorite 60's pop group stratosphere and have not budged from my rotation for months now. I first got "From you unto us", the singles collection which is good for what it is, but I think the best introduction to the band is the albums themselves, original ordering of songs in this case is vital to the listening experience.
I liked the singles collection OK, but my first impression was muted and okish until I noticed a couple songs later on sticking in my head for hours... picked up the first album on CD (Wondering the whole time if I should be doing this as I have most of the tracks on the comp, CD right? I like the original ordering BEST! Glad I did, no regrets at all...) and have played little else for some time...

I just got Timeless and I'm choosing one off their second album because the first album is one of the few immaculate pop albums of all time IMO and choices there are easy favorites... the second album seems to be less popular, but there are some serious gems here too and It's also a stone cold favorite...

I am choosing Look Away because I think the most distinctive sonic quality of Eternity's Children are these wonderful uplifting bouncy organ driven songs... ET have several tracks that deliver a great song, beautiful and original atmospheric production, great performances in a deeply satisfying way that is rare... This song is pure pop bliss from the opening notes to the end. I honestly can't think of a better compliment than that this song makes me glad to be alive.

For those of you who played in the band and stumble across this:
From the bottom of my heart THANK YOU!

from Timeless
available on CD - Y (Rev-Ola)



  Mr. E: Eternity's Children. Somehow the name got messed up and I can't edit it so I'm posting this correct spelling to help the search engine.....
  artlongjr: Eternity's Children are a fantastic group...I remember when I first heard "Mrs. Bluebird" and was blown away. That was around 1985 and just last year I picked up their singles collection on CD. Thanks for recommending their individual albums, I definitely want to check them out.
  Mr. E: I can't recommend the first album highly enough ... it's a pop masterpiece... My introduction to ET was through that singles package, which is good enough for what it is, but trusty me the first album really needs to be heard in the original order with all the tracks.
  scatdaddy2002: I had the great experience of working with Mike "the Kid", Linda, and Charlie. you oughta hear linda do 5th Dimension live ot Mike kick it with a keyboard. First worked with some of them in memphis with Tommy Cogsbill. Linda was present-we were friends socially in '69 and then again with Mike, Charlie, drummer Johnny Thomasie from N.O.,sometime later. I can't remember the Guitar player's name-maybe Norman or something like that. We were doing the "B" side to a single of mine at Robin Hood Bryan's studio. All of us lived in Baton Rouge at the time and worked respectively for Crocked Fox Prod.(but this session was maybe a solo adventure with co-member of the production team, Guy Bellello [[R.I.P.]}since only he was present-who knows.) The "A" side was done at one of my sessions at American Studios, Memphis and featured the Memphis Horns, the Sweet Inpirations as female back ups, Cimmaron as writer/male harmonies. Elvis had been there the week before (recorded In the Ghetto, I think)and Neil Diamond was due the following week there in Memphis. I felt like such a nobody with life-sized pics of Elvis everywhere and everybody making their comparisons of Alex from the "Boxtops" and me. Pinning a VU meter the same way Alex did was not exactly the feedback I was looking for. Anyway, I guess I am saying we spent a little time together, I miss listening to and working with them. If anyone hears from them, it would be great to STS again. I started back playing professionally a couple of years ago and still consider them the gold standard in terms of harmony and think that the Hammond B3 has "the Kid's" name on it. As an update, Guy died an untimely death about 10 years ago and I only wish I could find Bubba Anthony if living, a sometimes ET drummer and any of that crowd. Kindest regards, Scatdaddy2002
Looking Glass  performed by The La,s   1989
Recommended by geezer [profile]

An epic finale to an epic album,psychedelic but inside the real world ,existential but accesible,beautiful acoustic guitars and backing harmonies.This is the birth or re birth of British pop music after its castration at the hands of eighties over production and souless technology.Dragging Pink Floyd behind it on its way to meet Oasis a few years down the line .

from self titled 1990, available on CD


Lost In Paradise  performed by Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66�  1970
Recommended by konsu [profile]

This is not so much my favorite B-66' tune as my favorite Gracinha Leporace tune. She sang for Bossa Rio as well as Edu Lobo some rarer solo outings. It's a cover of a great Caetano Veloso tune from an earlier LP. Unfamiliar as I am with the original I can't compare the two, but as far as how out it is for Sergio is without saying. The whole thing sounds really compressed and blissed out, way more soulful than a lot of his earlier stuff, it just drives forward and backward undulating...

Just a beautiful vocal performance, totally solo with chorus overdubs just to fill it out... Gorgeous!

from Stillness, available on CD




  bobbyspacetroup: I'm in total agreement on this one. Stillness and Crystal Illusions are probably my favorite Mendes records, and this track is definitely a stand-out. Great recommendation.
Lost in the Supermarket  performed by The Clash  1979
Recommended by xfanatic50 [profile]

Melancholy, lonely and beautiful. Proof of the versatility and intellligence of the Clash's music.

from London Calling (Epic)


Love Like Semtex  performed by Rialto  1997
Recommended by Mike [profile]

Masterful. Beautiful arrangement, building up very effectively as the song progresses. Lyrically eloquent, with a brooding anger which betrays the influence of Elvis Costello, and is none the worse for it. Why on earth didn't this band have more commercial impact? The album is very stylistically varied and interesting. (Perhaps I just answered my own question).

from Rialto, available on CD


Love Ridden  performed by Fiona Apple
Recommended by jeni [profile]

This song is so haunting and beautiful.

from When the Pawn


Love so fine  performed by Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends  1968
Recommended by delicado [profile]

It's hard not to smile when you hear this lovely, rousing late 60s number. Roger Nichols is the composer (along with Paul Williams) of many late 60s and 70s hits for, amongst others, The Carpenters. He wrote this song with 'Pet Sounds' lyricist Tony Asher, and they created a beautiful combination of sunny soft pop sounds (handclaps, brass, group harmonies) and pleasing, happy words. Musically, it is superior and extra-catchy, with nice Bacharach-esque touches and great instrumentation. The lead vocal also deserves a mention for sounding almost supernaturally brilliant (far better than it sounds in the sound sample). The singer is Melinda Macleod; her voice is lovely anyway, but here it sounds as if 3 perfect takes have been somehow overlaid on top of each other to produce an incredibly rich, soothing effect. It's over quickly - in just over two minutes. At which point I normally listen to it again a few times.

from Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends (A&M)
available on CD - Complete (Polydor Japan)




  PappaWheelie: I couldn't agree more. This is the epitome of what Pizzicato Five were trying to recreate in the early 90's.
  klatu: I didn't realize someone had picked this one already! I spelled it "&" instead of "and". Excellent choice!
Love theme  performed by Henry Mancini
Recommended by 37piecesflair [profile]

From the 1968 film of Romeo and Juliet. One of the most beautiful movie themes I've ever heard.

It's all there. The composition, the sweeping orchestra, the violins. Everything. So wonderful.


available on CD - Henry Mancini's Greatest Hits



  delicado: I think the score was actually by Nino Rota, although Mancini's version was a hit. I do quite like the tune, but its overuse in soap operas has killed it for me a little!
Lying is the most fun  performed by Panic at the Disco  2005
Recommended by sparkling.inferno [profile]

it's not the most beautifully written song -or the most appropriate, for that matter- but i love it for the way it was performed, the way Brendon's sometimes high-pitched vocals harmonize so well with the instruments, and its memorability. this song stuck with me for a very long time, however i am also very attached to it on account of more personal reasons.
the intellectual aspects are also what struck me as being meaningful- how often do you hear the word 'harlequin' or 'testosterone' in a song? i enjoy listening to tunes with at least some signs of intellect, rather than hearing a string of curses or slang in an entire three minutes. although there are some profanities in Lying, it's not as bad as many other songs out there, that's for sure.

however, there is a sad aspect to the song as well. apparently, it was inspired by guitarist Ryan Ross' recent breakup with his girlfriend on account of her cheating. he stated:
"At the time it felt like the world had ended. I hated everything. It affected that whole album. I guess it's good that I wrote it down. I might have stabbed somebody."

overall, i think it's a great composition, with an enjoyable melody and a catchy chorus, despite its melancholy roots.

from A Fever You Can't Sweat Out


Lynn�s Baby  performed by Mark Eric  1969
Recommended by artlongjr [profile]

It's hard to recommend a single track from this album, the whole thing is a classic of California pop. I'm glad it's finally been reissued on CD.

Mark Eric Malmborg created a genuine masterpiece with this recording, which has a bittersweet mood throughout that reminds me of "Pet Sounds". I originally came across this LP in 1989 when I found a copy at a thrift store (it had once been in the collection of the local public library!)and just looking at the cover I figured it would be great, and it was!

"Lynn's Baby" is the last track on the original LP and is a beautiful song about a girl who has been seduced and left with an out of wedlock baby by an older, manipulative guy who's left her after the usual empty promises...rather an unusual theme for a pop song! The combination of Mark Eric's voice (somewhat reminiscent of Brian Wilson) and the gorgeous string arrangement are enough to really bring out the goose bumps.

This CD is one that I absolutely can't recommend enough to fans of the beautiful 1960's pop music.

from A Midsummer's Day Dream, available on CD